Perpetual Ruminations

Make That Two Whacks For Me

There was a question asked for the Spiritual Newsletter in the Community Newsfeed today asking: Do you find yourself saying 'it was my fault' when it wasn't?

I answered no, because I don't take fault when it falls on someone else. But, there was a time when I did. Eventually, I learned that if I take the fault, the person who is at fault doesn't have to. This was the case with siblings when I was a child. Often I would get blamed for something they did and I would not argue it wasn't my fault. Back then, I would have only gotten into more trouble.

But, the die was cast and I learned to just say, "It was my fault" even if it wasn't. I would take the repercussions as they got away with it. This was the case when I skipped a half a day of school in fifth grade.

It was a beautiful spring day and we were outside for our lunch break. I was talking to the girl next door (actually a couple doors down) who was also my best friend. Not only my best friend, but I also had a huge crush on her. Being so nice, we decided to skip school for the afternoon. She had never been down the mining road by our houses, so we decided it was a fine day to do just that. I don't know if it was both of us planning or if I talked her into it. Perhaps she talked me into it, I don't remember

What I do remember is learning a couple of very important lessons that day. One, never skip a half a day of school. If you were there in the morning, they will check up if your gone in the afternoon. If you're going to skip, take the whole day. Secondly, don't say it's my fault after you get busted.

The school called my house when I didn't return after lunch, so I was in a heap of trouble as soon as I got home. The next day when I arrived at school and walked into my classroom, I discovered there was going to be more trouble heaped on top of the existing heap. My teacher confronted me right off about skipping the previous afternoon.

I was responsible and admitted my guilt, I didn't make any excuses, and I accepted my punishment, even though I did not know at the time what it would be. I anticipated it would be detention after school for a while. During the interrogation, Kelly's name was brought up since she also skipped out with me. Since I had admitted my guilt, I thought if I explained it was my fault, perhaps she would be spared punishment.

I was right in part. I explained that I had convinced her to skip with me, it was all my fault. The teacher nodded, then asked, "So it was all your fault?"

"Yes."

I was told that my punishment would be a choice of one week detention after school, or  one whack with the paddle; skipping school resulted in two weeks detention or two whacks, but I had only skipped a half a day, I would only get one week or one whack.

I did not want to stay after school at all, so I opted for one whack, that wouldn't be so bad. The teacher had me bend over my desk as the entire class watched. He took out his paddle (this was normal back then) came up behind me, and with a whistling sound followed by a thunderclap, the paddle impacted with my gluteus maximus. It stung so bad my eyes watered; I would have swore my backside was on fire. I straightened up clenching my teeth to hold the tears back so my class wouldn't see me cry and was about to take my seat.

But, my teacher gently put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he shook his head as he told me, "You said it was all your fault, so instead of Kelly getting a whack, you also get her's. He gently bent me over the desk again. A second time I heard the whistling of the paddle, a second time I felt the intense sting as it slapped against my buttocks. But this time, I was already hurting and knew how much that paddle was going to sting, so I tensed up before it hit which made it hurt even more.

I was then allowed to sit if I wanted, or I could stand in the back of the classroom if my bottom was too sore to sit. I stood the entire day, sitting only after I got home to a padded chair. Even then, it still hurt to sit.

How did Kelly fair in all of this? She was still punished for skipping a half a day, despite my efforts to remove any fault from her. But, instead of one whack or one week, the teacher gave her two days detention for letting me take the fault when she skipped by her own choice.

She didn't get punished for skipping, but she did get punished for letting me say it was all my fault. We both learned something that day.