Wink if you can

 

I introduced Wink (bottom right) to my 5th graders yesterday. They'd never played it before so I started giving them the instructions:

Everyone has some number cards in their hand. There are a duplicate set of number cards laid out on the table as well. 

You put your token on one of the cards on the table. If somebody else has that number, they need to slyly wink at you before your next turn without other people noticing.

I did an exaggerated wink with one eye to mimic the action needed cause I figured "wink" was a new word for them. At this point 우성 timidly raised his hand. "What if we can't wink?"

My teacher mind has been so well trained over the years to at any moment expect the craziest questions and ideas from my students, so without blinking I replied, "You can just close both eyes really quickly." He smiled and closed both eyes at me quickly with some difficulty and I gave him a thumbs up.

About 20 years ago I was working at a summer camp as a camp counselor. By that point I'd already been working with kids for 5 years or so, which made me feel pretty confident and at ease with how I managed my little group of around a dozen 5th and 6th graders. 

We had a fairly socially awkward boy named Faizal. It was a summer camp for gifted and talented youth, so basically the whole camp was full of kids who didn't really fit the typical mold. Whereas most kids would talk about whatever cartoons or movies they just saw, these kids liked to talk about politics and make clubs based on different political parties.  David, one of the cutest, coolest kids I'd ever met asked me on the first day, "Do you like bush?"  I didn't know what to say.  I thought maybe he was making a dirty joke, but his face was so sincere. I paused for a second before realizing that he actually wanted to know if I liked George Bush. 

We were outside the front entrance of Haupert Union (pictured above) playing foursquare when Faizal said he needed to go to the bathroom. "Can't you wait 5 minutes?" I asked. Our dorms were about a hundred yards away from the cafeteria. 

"No, this is really urgent!" he replied. I sent him inside while I rounded up my kids.

The rules of the camp were that you couldn't let your kids just wander all over the campus (the camp was held on the Moravian College campus in Bethlehem, PA) so I told my kids that they had to wrap up foursquare and chill in the lounge area while we waited for Faizal. 

When we went inside I checked in the boys bathroom but he wasn't there. ::cue quick panicked feeling that every mom/dad/teacher has ever felt when they expect to find a kid somewhere but the kid isn't there:: 

After a few minutes of searching one of my guys thinks to check in the handicapped bathroom and there's Faizal, his pants around his knees, taking a dump. He gets upset and the kid who barged in turned around with a look of disgust, shaking his head while stating, "Ewww, I did not need to see that."

I sat down while my kids did typical kid things: found wierd scribbles on the wall no one else would notice, or a dead fly with one wing torn off. "Maybe a spider got it?" "Nah, probably a tarantula." "My friend's brother owns a tarantula and it...." I kinda zoned out and just waited. I was currently trying to figure out what the heck was going on between me and another counselor, Katy. I was into her but I couldn't be sure if she was into me.

"Hey!" I could hear Faisal's shout pretty clearly, oddly enough.

I looked over to see that one of my guys had decided it would be funny to hit the handicap button next to the bathroom door. As the door sloooowly opened, Faisal got angrier and angrier. School staff and other groups of camp counselors with their kids strolled by and tried to avert their gaze as Faisal sat there with his pants around his ankles in plain view of the hallway and the camp offices. I was scared to force the door close for fear of breaking it. After 20 or 30 seconds the door closed on its own and I tried to find the culprit. 

10 minutes passed.

"Ryan, when are we gonna go? I'm bored." Ralph was picking at the wall with a finger, head leaned against the wall as he slowly twisted back and forth. 

"Go check on Faizal and see if he's finished."

Ralph came back a minute later. "He said he needs his poncho." 

"What?" I said, srunching up my face.

"He said he needs his poncho."

"Why does he need his poncho?" I asked.

"I don't know. He just said he needs it."

I walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Faizal, can you hear me?" 

A muffled "Yeah" came through the door.

"Are you gonna finish up in there anytime soon? We really gotta get back soon or we'll be late for afternoon activities."

A few seconds passed. Then the muffled voice spoke. "I need my poncho."

"Well, I don't know where your poncho is."

"It's in my red suitcase."

"Yeah, but the problem is I can't really send anyone down there cause I have to supervise all of you."

"Can't you send Georgy?"

"No, I can't send any kids. Anyways, why do you need your poncho?"

"In case it rains." 

"Yeah, well, I don't think it's raining today," I said, thinking that something was up.

"It rained yesterday."

"Right," I replied, "but there were clouds yesterday. There's no clouds today."

A few moments of silence.

"So, you think you're gonna be finished up in there soon?" I continued. No response. "Faizal, is it cool if I crack the door open and see why exactly it is that you need your poncho?" My initial thought had been that he was constipated, but our conversation had steered my brain towards other possibilities.

I heard a muffled and slightly dejected "Ok" in response.

I cracked open the door a bit and peered inside.

The ground was covered in dirty toilet water and used toilet paper. Faisal's pants and shoes were too. He looked up at me, momentarily adjusting his glasses on his nose. 

"The toilet overflowed." To this day I'm not sure why he didn't just get up out of the way once he'd realized the toilet was overflowing.

In the end I grabbed some clothes from his room (no poncho necessary) and after we got back to our dorm I told him to take a 20 minute shower.

I told that story to my coworkers the next day. My manager pulled me aside and told me that it was insensitive of me to tell that story. At the time I apologized to her and felt bad for it but looking back I kinda think that she was overreacting, like the time she freaked out cause I wasn't taking care of the "brownie situation".

(side story: In the cafeteria one day one of my guys decides to put 5 brownies on a plate for after dinner. My manager pulls me aside when I go up for seconds and tells me to take care of the situation. I say ok. I go back and tell my kid that he has to limit himself to 2 and give the rest out to the other guys. He agrees and we all continue to eat dinner. 5 minutes later she comes over and whispers aggressively in my ear that if I don't take care of the situation this instant I'm gonna get written up and have a meeting with the head of staff.)

Anyways, the wink story reminded me of the poncho story, so I wrote them down and that's kinda that. Here's some more pics from that summer (please ignore the potato quality...this was way way back in 2005):

Normally I try to not to post pics of my kids on here, but seeing as how all these kids are now approaching their 30s, I'm guessing it's not a big deal.