I made it!!!

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!! I have always wanted to do that! Well, I made it through the first day. I was so nervous walking to my class. My backpack weighed as much as I did and I could imagine myself just going $%$ over tea-kettle and rolling down the hill like an out of control snowball, collecting dust and dirt as I go. Somehow that did not happen and I managed to keep myself upright..

I noticed as I was walking that no one was looking where they were going. No one looked up as they walked, unless they were walking with someone else, but then only looking at that person. I, of course, said "HI!" to everyone just in case they wanted to look up and were waiting for a excuse to do so. I would think your neck gets very tired hanging like that all the time. Maybe I will try it today and see how I feel at the end of the day. The only students that said "hi" back were the other handicapable students. I guess we are like a gang and it's okay to look at and talk to other gang members. More interesting observations on all this to come!

CLASSES

I sat in the first seat I could find, against the wall and not next to anyone else so that Ike could have lots of room to stretch out. He stretched out...right onto a girls sweatshirt hood. It looked so soft and fluffy he could not help himself....I wanted to join him and just cuddle up, but I don't think the girl not the teacher would have appreciated that. "Look everyone she is so old she needs a nap" I could just hear it now:)

Okay...have I been living under a dog house ???? When did GOTH become so popular again. I thought that fashion died out years ago. At least 15 out of the 20 people in my class were dressed Goth, and had the overall Goth look. Every backpack, knapsack, man-bag. and lunch boxes (haha) were skull and cross bones. The best that I will be able to do to fit in is to wear a "Surrender your Booty" Tee-Shirt with a Pirate on it holding a skull, don't think that will quite cut it. Let me know what you think!. I was also the only person without jeans and a hoodie on. Even the boys ( 18-22) were in jeans and hoodies, and of course all black with the skull and cross bones. The teacher was in a suit and then I was the next most dressed up person and I thought I was pretty casual!.

Everyone looked very nervous, and there was dead silence while we waited for the teacher to start talking. I just wanted to say something to break the silence, but even I was too nervous to do so. One boy came in late, jeans half way down his butt with boxers showing (another fad I thought was gone). He grabbed a desk and put it down near mine...he just wanted to sit near Ikey:). The teacher told him he had to move it as he was in the direct path of the doorway. This boy whined like a 6 year old " but there is nooo rooom anywhere else....waaawaaa" Of course there was more room in the front of the class but obviously he did not want to sit there. He pouted and made his way to a back corner.

During class, which was pretty interesting, I answered a question and talked about my time working at Mansfield State Training School in CT. I talked about how people used to think Mental Retardation was something you could " catch" like the chicken pox. The State built tunnels underground from building to building so the townsfolk would feel safer and nobody had to see things they didn't want to see. The ignorance of the times was as much a product of society as it was the lack of science. People don't want to see, hear or deal with people that make them feel uncomfortable or uneasy. I saw a lot of discrimination towards people with disabilities working with that population, and it made me ashamed of our society. Okay...too deep sorry:)

Well...off to another day...wish me luck..."Goodnight and Goodluck!