unleashed.
SIX
September 26. Talking points for when I see Carl and/or Janet:
· Please don’t throw away my food, even if the box is nearly empty.
· I don’t like muesli and I never will.
· You can save a lot of money and prevent harsh chemicals from being absorbed into the ground and water systems if you make your own fabric softener out of baking soda and vinegar.
· How is work? (Use only if they are in a good mood.)
· Who are those neighbors who keep looking out their window?
· Who are the people in your photos?
**
I found replacement glass for the picture frame I dropped, and put the frame back on the bookshelf in Carl’s office. I don’t think they noticed its absence. They said nothing about it, either in person or on the white board.
I was about to head to the library when I heard a clink-clink-clink sound coming from the dryer in the laundry room. Someone had left coins in their pocket, or that there was an exposed zipper hitting the sides of the dryer drum.
I was surprised to see Janet in the laundry room. I was even more surprised to see her wearing skimpy running shorts and a clingy, sweaty top. It suddenly seemed like I was interrupting something private, even though she was only folding towels.
“How’s school?”
“Fine.” I wanted to do something about the metal clanking in the dryer. Was she not bothered by that?
“Just fine? Nothing new with you?”
“There’s going to be an election.”
She groaned. “Throw the bums out. Our mail carrier could do better job than those idiots in Washington.” I was going to inform her that I meant my SGA election, not the national one, but she kept talking. “My tax dollars for war, but fat cats get all the benefits. Nobody even listens to us—”
“I don’t like muesli.” I sort of shouted this. “I’m sorry,” I said, softer.
She stopped folding a dark green towel. “I told Carl not to do that. But you don’t have to buy your own food. That’s what the state is paying us for. But if you do spend your own, we’ll just save whatever we don’t spend and give it back to you.”
“I switched to Honey Bunches of Oats,” I said.
“Give the muesli to Carl. I hate it, too.”
“I have to go.” I bolted out of the laundry room, having done nothing about the dryer clanking.
The implication of what Janet said didn’t occur to me until later that night. They were going to give me the money from the state? I didn’t believe it. What was the point of having a foster child if they didn’t benefit?
**
Unlike many students with scientific accomplishments who may apply to Caltech, I also am comfortable explaining challenging topics like HIV and other STDs in front of an entire student body. A scholar, leader and a public speaker, Tyler Superanaskaia is a triple threat man of many contradictions too good to be true (TBD).
**
Monday, in homeroom, on what should have been the special election, there were no ballots. The monitor was a sub, and she spent most of her time telling everyone to stop using their phones. I saw a couple students reading the Clarion . The lead story featured the headline, Maverick SGA Candidate Vows Reforms . There was picture of a guy with a clenched fist raised in a defiant salute. I didn’t recognize the person as me until I saw the photo caption. Advocate for closed stalls and open discussion on sex and drugs.
My physics teacher was unimpressed by my stall door campaign promise. In the middle of explaining error analysis, Mr. Zirke told the class, apropos of nothing, that western society was too afraid of excrement. “We anesthetize everything about our bodies, hide in shame, irradiate our food. I’ll tell you something. I love to take a dump in the woods. I feel alive when I’m doing it. I mean we don’t have to be like Angola , but stall doors? Gimme a break.”
In English
SIX
September 26. Talking points for when I see Carl and/or Janet:
· Please don’t throw away my food, even if the box is nearly empty.
· I don’t like muesli and I never will.
· You can save a lot of money and prevent harsh chemicals from being absorbed into the ground and water systems if you make your own fabric softener out of baking soda and vinegar.
· How is work? (Use only if they are in a good mood.)
· Who are those neighbors who keep looking out their window?
· Who are the people in your photos?
**
I found replacement glass for the picture frame I dropped, and put the frame back on the bookshelf in Carl’s office. I don’t think they noticed its absence. They said nothing about it, either in person or on the white board.
I was about to head to the library when I heard a clink-clink-clink sound coming from the dryer in the laundry room. Someone had left coins in their pocket, or that there was an exposed zipper hitting the sides of the dryer drum.
I was surprised to see Janet in the laundry room. I was even more surprised to see her wearing skimpy running shorts and a clingy, sweaty top. It suddenly seemed like I was interrupting something private, even though she was only folding towels.
“How’s school?”
“Fine.” I wanted to do something about the metal clanking in the dryer. Was she not bothered by that?
“Just fine? Nothing new with you?”
“There’s going to be an election.”
She groaned. “Throw the bums out. Our mail carrier could do better job than those idiots in Washington.” I was going to inform her that I meant my SGA election, not the national one, but she kept talking. “My tax dollars for war, but fat cats get all the benefits. Nobody even listens to us—”
“I don’t like muesli.” I sort of shouted this. “I’m sorry,” I said, softer.
She stopped folding a dark green towel. “I told Carl not to do that. But you don’t have to buy your own food. That’s what the state is paying us for. But if you do spend your own, we’ll just save whatever we don’t spend and give it back to you.”
“I switched to Honey Bunches of Oats,” I said.
“Give the muesli to Carl. I hate it, too.”
“I have to go.” I bolted out of the laundry room, having done nothing about the dryer clanking.
The implication of what Janet said didn’t occur to me until later that night. They were going to give me the money from the state? I didn’t believe it. What was the point of having a foster child if they didn’t benefit?
**
Unlike many students with scientific accomplishments who may apply to Caltech, I also am comfortable explaining challenging topics like HIV and other STDs in front of an entire student body. A scholar, leader and a public speaker, Tyler Superanaskaia is a triple threat man of many contradictions too good to be true (TBD).
**
Monday, in homeroom, on what should have been the special election, there were no ballots. The monitor was a sub, and she spent most of her time telling everyone to stop using their phones. I saw a couple students reading the Clarion . The lead story featured the headline, Maverick SGA Candidate Vows Reforms . There was picture of a guy with a clenched fist raised in a defiant salute. I didn’t recognize the person as me until I saw the photo caption. Advocate for closed stalls and open discussion on sex and drugs.
My physics teacher was unimpressed by my stall door campaign promise. In the middle of explaining error analysis, Mr. Zirke told the class, apropos of nothing, that western society was too afraid of excrement. “We anesthetize everything about our bodies, hide in shame, irradiate our food. I’ll tell you something. I love to take a dump in the woods. I feel alive when I’m doing it. I mean we don’t have to be like Angola , but stall doors? Gimme a break.”
In English
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