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We Were Not Allowed to Say it...

 Shhhh – Morganton Humanist Alliance

6th grade, remember your experience? Do you remember your teachers, or just one in particular?

I do. I have an uncanny memory for all of my teachers, first and last names, the when, the where, and most of all, how they made me feel.

My sixth grade year at Basalt Middle School wasn't out of the ordinary for the first half. I was learning to wrestle, figuring out some of the dynamics of family and school life, learning who my friends were...and weren't.

Mrs. Palmer was my teacher. She remains a fixture in my life. In fact, she attended our thirty year high school reunion. As is the case with every teacher, she had her sayings and things she would do that are memorable.

  1. Shutting the lights off if class got too rowdy meant we would all retreat to our desks, heads down, and wait for her gentle voice to guide us back to reality. 
  2. Firmly calling out, "Cool your jets!" 
  3. The non-negotiable of all rules, we were never allowed to utter the words, "Shut up". Ever.
There wasn't an explanation, rationale, or even an articulated consequence for this verbal error. It just was. The rule of rules. Ironclad. Firm. And those who tested it, well, between you and me, I have no idea what happened to them.

I like the rule. I have adopted it in my life, and while most will tell you - and I readily admit - that my vocabulary contains a host of interesting vernacular, it is absent shut up.

To utter these words is to lose control. It also indicates that whomever is vomiting up this surrender has run out of vocabulary and volleys forth the very last of ammunition because nothing is left. To say shut up means that the conversation has become personal, not rational. 

In short, to shout or whisper shut up is a character flaw. It shows great weakness. It shows limited intellect. It is petty.

Onward!

Dr. J

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