Life Ruiner

I mean, sure, there’s the flip side. Lots of girls will look back fondly on some of their teachers. Sometimes they’ll even talk about how one teacher made a real, tangible positive impact on their lives. But that’s most likely going to be a teacher who spent all afternoon with them in their youngest years, or a high school teacher they really connected with.

No one is looking back at the 45 minutes a day they spent learning social studies in middle school and saying, “Wow. Mrs. Lisker* (name changed to protect the certainly guilty) transformed my entire life! That day we spent mock-guillotining unsuspecting students? Formative.”

So I’ve come to terms with the fact that though I do give those girls a good time (and, I think, a nice appreciation for history!), my impact isn’t going to be long-term. And I pray that if it is, it isn’t negative. I don’t want some flippant comment I made once, on a day when I didn’t notice how it landed, to be the one a woman points to during a therapy session. That. That’s the reason why everything went downhill for me. Mrs. Lisker ruined my life.

I’ve had some near misses over the years that keep me ever fearful of this prospect.