MysticMisty
kiwifarms.net
The recent snowstorms that ravaged most of the country reminded me of how much I don't miss living up in South Dakota in the winter. Snowfall usually wasn't the main problem, it was the potent winds whipping up blizzards (and dangerous wind chills) that was the absolute most dangerous. It wasn't at all uncommon for visibility to drop down to inches (if that), which is why we frequently had snow days during the long winter. People who don't live with frequent blizzards don't seem to understand how incredibly dangerous they are and will say we were pussies when it came to snow. It is however incredibly dangerous conditions, and since the district wanted to avoid the controversy of a busload of kids dying to/from school, we'd accumulate probably around two weeks worth of snow days every year.
Fifth grade year, my final school year in South Dakota before leaving for Arizona, had the rather unusual problem in that the district officials couldn't time the cancellations right. So school would be cancelled on a nice balmy day (by winter standards), and then the next day we'd have to go to school in a raging blizzard. One notable day the day started out okay, but as it went on conditions deteriorated and around 1:15 the decision was made to end school right now and get us home before it got too dangerous.
After we'd gathered our shit we were taken to the cafeteria (where my class somehow managed to get first) to wait until our buses arrived. Almost immediately the buses for the off-base kids came, so they all left, leaving behind most of the school. Our teacher reassured us the rest of the buses would be coming soon, but as the minutes dragged on this quickly turned out to be not true. Fucking great.
As we stood around bitching to each other about the stupid buses taking so damn long (and in the case of my class, also how cold it was this close to the door even bundled up) our teachers kept lying and insisting the buses would have to arrive any minute. Which was why they refused to let us sit down or even wheel out a TV cart with something we could watch. They probably thought the moment they tried to do something like that the buses would come, and thus it was a big old waste of time because they wanted to follow us right out the door. I mean, I can't blame them for wanted to fuck off too, but at 2 it really should've been apparent that the buses were not coming and that at the very least we should sit down.
At one point someone (probably the music teacher) decided to entertain us by trying to get us to sing along with her to a baby song, I forget which one. She quickly gave up when a cafeteria full of fourth and fifth graders just stared back at her. Well, almost, fucking Billybob was nearby in his own class and was into the song, and kinda was pissed no one else was. Music teacher's problem was that she didn't choose the right baby song, as RocketMan came out the previous fall and we thought the scene where the astronaut man child sings "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" while locked in an isolation chamber absolutely hilarious. Granted, at least half of us also would've done the part where the other astronaut starts screaming so maybe they were wise not to chose that song after all.
At any rate I was beyond bored and not in the mood singing baby songs that weren't sung by funny man children, so I started to mutter "99 bottles of beer" to myself. My three friends (the ones that Mrs. Jellyrolls hated) joined in immediately. Followed by half the class, half the cafeteria, and then the entire cafeteria by the second verse. We all sang quite eagerly, while all the teachers frantically ran around ordering us to shut up. It took a while, but threats of suspension finally did get the last of the singers to stop.
Multiple teachers (not just mine), the music teacher, and even the vice principal stood in front of us to chew us out for singing a "grossly" inappropriate song. I mean, it's just beer, but that's boring, straight-laced women for you. Anyways out of me and my three friends they demanded to know which one of us started it, as they knew it had to be one of us four based on how the singing started. My three friends refused to rat me out, but Billybob somehow correctly accused me of being the original singer. The amazing thing is that they immediately shut him down, because a sweet girl like me would never start singing about beer on my own.
Not long after they finally gave up asking (but stayed nearby so we couldn't start singing again) the buses finally arrived, at their normal time. After fighting against the wind (and it was a hell of a wind) I managed to be one of the first kids on the bus, for a change. Mrs. Jellyrolls immediately started to insist it wasn't her fault, no one told them to come early, honest. I ignored her and went straight to the back with my friends, who congratulated me for pissing off the teachers like that and getting away with it. I felt great for having done so without trying and we laughed about it until it was time to say goodbye.
Fifth grade year, my final school year in South Dakota before leaving for Arizona, had the rather unusual problem in that the district officials couldn't time the cancellations right. So school would be cancelled on a nice balmy day (by winter standards), and then the next day we'd have to go to school in a raging blizzard. One notable day the day started out okay, but as it went on conditions deteriorated and around 1:15 the decision was made to end school right now and get us home before it got too dangerous.
After we'd gathered our shit we were taken to the cafeteria (where my class somehow managed to get first) to wait until our buses arrived. Almost immediately the buses for the off-base kids came, so they all left, leaving behind most of the school. Our teacher reassured us the rest of the buses would be coming soon, but as the minutes dragged on this quickly turned out to be not true. Fucking great.
As we stood around bitching to each other about the stupid buses taking so damn long (and in the case of my class, also how cold it was this close to the door even bundled up) our teachers kept lying and insisting the buses would have to arrive any minute. Which was why they refused to let us sit down or even wheel out a TV cart with something we could watch. They probably thought the moment they tried to do something like that the buses would come, and thus it was a big old waste of time because they wanted to follow us right out the door. I mean, I can't blame them for wanted to fuck off too, but at 2 it really should've been apparent that the buses were not coming and that at the very least we should sit down.
At one point someone (probably the music teacher) decided to entertain us by trying to get us to sing along with her to a baby song, I forget which one. She quickly gave up when a cafeteria full of fourth and fifth graders just stared back at her. Well, almost, fucking Billybob was nearby in his own class and was into the song, and kinda was pissed no one else was. Music teacher's problem was that she didn't choose the right baby song, as RocketMan came out the previous fall and we thought the scene where the astronaut man child sings "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" while locked in an isolation chamber absolutely hilarious. Granted, at least half of us also would've done the part where the other astronaut starts screaming so maybe they were wise not to chose that song after all.
At any rate I was beyond bored and not in the mood singing baby songs that weren't sung by funny man children, so I started to mutter "99 bottles of beer" to myself. My three friends (the ones that Mrs. Jellyrolls hated) joined in immediately. Followed by half the class, half the cafeteria, and then the entire cafeteria by the second verse. We all sang quite eagerly, while all the teachers frantically ran around ordering us to shut up. It took a while, but threats of suspension finally did get the last of the singers to stop.
Multiple teachers (not just mine), the music teacher, and even the vice principal stood in front of us to chew us out for singing a "grossly" inappropriate song. I mean, it's just beer, but that's boring, straight-laced women for you. Anyways out of me and my three friends they demanded to know which one of us started it, as they knew it had to be one of us four based on how the singing started. My three friends refused to rat me out, but Billybob somehow correctly accused me of being the original singer. The amazing thing is that they immediately shut him down, because a sweet girl like me would never start singing about beer on my own.
Not long after they finally gave up asking (but stayed nearby so we couldn't start singing again) the buses finally arrived, at their normal time. After fighting against the wind (and it was a hell of a wind) I managed to be one of the first kids on the bus, for a change. Mrs. Jellyrolls immediately started to insist it wasn't her fault, no one told them to come early, honest. I ignored her and went straight to the back with my friends, who congratulated me for pissing off the teachers like that and getting away with it. I felt great for having done so without trying and we laughed about it until it was time to say goodbye.