My Judy Blume Spin Off
- Madelaine Steber
- Dec 9, 2014
- 4 min read
My Judy Blume Spin Off
by Madelaine Grace
Are you there, America? It's me...
I guess when I was taught that I live in country known as "the melting pot," I pictured soup - a bunch of different ingredients that make one yummy broccoli cheddar soup (what? it's my favorite) - In our elementary textbooks, that I really wasn't interested in at the time, on government, history, blah, blah, blah. I doodled I'm so hungry all over the pages…Mostly in pencil.
Then, one teacher in seventh grade social studies added a plot twist, to an otherwise carefully regulated curriculum. She taught to her own accord about famous people. These people weren't restricted in adhering any qualifications in order to be taught to us other than their influence - from all over the world, people just like me, and like you, if you're reading, that went against the grain a little, or pushed a little extra with their vote, their movement, their voice, etc. Mother Teresa, Maya Angelou, Frank Sinatra, Steven Spielberg, to name some, and if I add another to the list it’s the teacher herself: Ms. Corcoran.
Now, I'm not sure what anyone else was like at 12,13, and 14 years old but, I thought I had it all figured out. I didn’t believe anyone had any more to offer me, in regards to education. Especially not these "authority figure" adults with their heart wrenching, because I said so, reasoning we were expected to understand (which of course I didn’t). I had long since mastered the alphabet, numbers, colors, reading, writing… To me, it felt as if we proceeded to do it over and over, and I wasn’t sure why… Until Ms. Corcoran hit my ego hard on the second day of class with her stupid spray bottle while I was doodling on my Social Studies homework: I’m so bored.
Yeah, I struck a nerve, and she struck right back with way more than because I said so. I think her spray bottle was shaped as a squirrel or something ridiculous, but she sprayed me with the water and said to me, “anytime you’re bored again Miss Steber, you let me know and I’ll take care of that for you.” I was never bored again in fact, I looked forward to Social Studies after that. Though she did soak my, “like totally new outfit” in water once, when I gave her some attitude... She had an adept way of communicating with hundreds of pre-teens, going through different stages of life at different times.
Anyone remember that? Remember slides for her class? I believe we were learning about Stonehenge… Yeah she was that cool, and she traveled all over the world and brought back photos on top of photos to show us, teach us, and of course, entertain us with humorous stories. She even gave me an old antique folding fan from France, (that still hangs on my wall in Kzoo). Probably because I would take it out of her closet and run away with it… But hopefully, because I told her I was going to learn French in high school and run away to live in Paris, I promised her a post card. I never told her that it was really her stories about France that made me want to travel Europe.
She tricked me into loving the world, she opened a whole knew reason to keep writing, reading, learning, and asking questions.
The way I look at it, a melting pot holds a variety of ingredients and softens them down, to work together into creating an amazing burst of flavor. Despite itself as it came in: bitter, sweet, salty, cold, hot, white, black, dry, wet, etc. because everything and everyone has something good to offer (my favorite is perspective). But my point and question is, with the expression of such a nickname, isn’t it our responsibility to hold true to its meaning?
Doesn’t respect for religion, different belief systems, or lack there of, mean accepting them as different? So for example, say you’re a baker and you detest everything about the LGBT community, from their smell, texture, and whatever else you think with respects to your religion, and you have a couple walk into your bakery (marriage of the same sex) in need of your fabulous wedding cake skills. Can this not mean that you are able to accept these differences between yourselves to make a simple cake?
Side note: If you’re a baker, I hope you know the power and importance of the difference in flavor, that are called for to create an entire recipe.
Despite the disagreements of your taste in religion, belief system, lack of religion/beliefs, shit even in the flavor of the cake, I like to think, that if you needed their assistance one day, then they too would help an ingredient (that’s you) in our soup-licious country, because we can make it even tastier if our pot is melting like that right? For instance, just because I detest everything about seafood, from the smell, texture, and taste – doesn’t mean I haven’t tried it, appreciated the fact that it adds nutrition to my soup, and or bought it for a friend that does love it. I also think the fish serve more purpose, I really do like the sea and all it’s wonders, just not the taste of its inhabitants.
Why are we trying to live in a soup-licious melting pot where one ingredient is favored more than the other? I thought each one was important to the overall product, of equal value, (don’t get technical with me about switching out ingredients as substitutes this isn’t literally about food people).
Again I ask, are you there, America? I mean really there?
{ Write Freely & Respect Freely }
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