The Time I Avoided the Strap

I have a non-strap Cooper story I would like to share.

One day, in Mrs. MacMillan's Grade 6 class, I stood up to rudely mimic a student who had answered a question incorrectly. I know it was wrong to do that, but I have a congenital defect.

As luck would have it, Cooper was silently standing at the back of the room. I was caught red-handed. I knew this was a 100% strapable offense.

Cooper asked why I had done what I did. In the usual state of terror, I started spinning a thousand, possible justifications around in my mind, but quickly concluded none were going to work. I was getting it for sure. But that was only half of the pain. There would still be the hour of psychological torture that preceded the appearance of the strap from his jacket pocket.

(You didn't think! Did ya? Look at my eyes. Stop fidgeting with your belt loops. Hands at your sides. Don't look at the floor, look at my eyes. Didn't think. You're impulsive! Look at my eyes.)

I decided to bypass the Lubyanka treatment and just get it over with.

So, in answer to his question, I defiantly stated, "Because I felt like it!"

His next question was, "Do we always do things we feel like doing at Westwood School?"

"No, Sir," I replied.

The conclusion of this exchange really threw me for a loop.

He told me to sit back down.