#167 - BE

#167 was the principal at my high school.  My mom taught there and was friendly with him and all of the other Brothers of the Scared Heart that ran the school.  We got to know B.E. (as we called him) pretty well.  He was a thin, quiet man who as I recall was kinda quirky.  I am trying to pick a word to describe him, and I am having trouble.  Quiet...yes.  Kind of funny...maybe.  Hard of hearing...I think so.  Anyway, I was a pretty good kid in high school (read - nerd) and did not have too much business in the principal's office, but I do have one story that comes to mind.

For most of high school, I was a member of the student council.  I did not hold any big office, just a minor role usually but as my personality dictates...I held each office to the best of my ability.  My senior year, my role was representative at large.  What this really means...I have no idea.  I think I was supposed to be a liason between the student body and the administration???  Anyway, we had this suggestion box in the library and my job was to collect the suggestions each month before the meeting...sort them out...and present them to the council for discussion.  Since this was back the the big 80's, one of the suggestions that I remember getting often was, "Can the boys wear argyle socks."  I remember this being a big deal.  The boys uniforms called for long khaki pants and navy or white socks.  You could not really see their socks, but if a teacher asked to inspect them...they better not have different colored triangles on them.  Anyway, one month I decided to go straight to the top with this request.  I mean really...who was it hurting?  You couldn't even see the sock tops.  So I requested a meeting with B.E.  I remember going into his office with my proposal carefully worded and outlined (read - nerd again).  I plead my case and when I left the office, I had approval from the top dog.  He agreed...what did it hurt, you couldn't even see the sock tops.  I was so excited and sure that I would make the day of so many of my male classmates. (Have to stop here and lol about the things that seem so important in H.S.)

I go back to the meeting and when my turn to speak comes up...I deliver the wonderful news.  I remember the moderator asking me if I was sure I had this information right as this had been a hot topic for awhile and has always been denied.  I assured her that B.E. gave a thumbs up for permission.  Since I was such a nerd, she knew I was not making it up, and allowed all the class reps to go back and report to the student body that argyle socks were O.K. 

To this day, I'm not sure what happened next.  Did B.E. not hear exactly what I was asking?  Did one of the teachers who was stoutly opposed to argyle get to B.E. and change his mind?  Or, as I suspect, did B.E. not really know what an argyle sock was?  In any event, the next day, all the reps reported the great news to their homerooms...the teachers all looked at each other with puzzled looks...and before lunchtime a memo was brought to each class saying that the information given about argyle socks was incorrect and the boy's uniform called for navy or white socks only.  What?!?!?  My face red, I waited to be called to the office or to my student council moderator's classroom.  The funny thing was...it never happened.  No one ever mentioned it to me again.  No one asked and no one blamed me for wreaking havoc with the dresscode.  Now don't you think that sounds like a cover-up for B.E...  Think about it!  :)

Thank you B.E. for teaching me to always, always check my facts twice, and not to assume that just because people say yes, they really have a clue as to what they just consented to. 

If it looks like they are confused...it is usually because they are.