“I
expect you to behave like adults when I am gone. That means you will
be quiet!” Mrs. M, my 12th grade English teacher said
this in class one day when she was called to the office. Well, adults
would not run amok in the room or halls in the absence of the
teacher. Neither would they terrorize any of their classmates or
vandalize school property. But I really don't think they would be
quiet.
Adults
might quietly attend to their homework or studies. They might,
in today's world, silently check their phones and respond to emails.
They may even leave the room without a hall pass because they have
better things to do than wait for a teacher who apparently thinks
something else is more important than the time of a classroom full of
adults.
But
mostly, I think adults would not be quiet. They would chat with each
other in the class until the teacher's return. The noise would not be
disruptive – it would be what one might realistically expect
from a room full of adults who are waiting for something.
And
so we behaved like adults, our class of senior advanced placement
English students – we chatted.
One
of the girls mentioned a song that was popular on the top 40 radio at
that time. Rose Garden by Lynn Anderson – you probably know
it – the first line is I beg your pardon/I never promised you a
rose garden. The classmate groaned and said “it's just one
cliché after another!” which is a perfect description of the song.
Yet it is so peppy, and I guess because of the cliches, the words are
easy to remember and thus the song is a lot of fun to sing along
with.
Recently
on a drive to Alabama, 44 years after senior year English, Rose
Garden came on a country station we just happened to tune into,
and Lynn and Mike and I sang at the top of our lungs all the way
through! And Mike and I smiled and bounced and felt so good
afterward! Even though life does not promise us a rose garden, the
Rose Garden song was a lovely gift to the world probably
because of the cliches! A good tip to remember should I decide
to write that blockbuster song someday!
Mrs.
M returned to the classroom, her hands on hips and that familiar look
of disdain on her face. “I had the P/A turned on while I was in the
office. I could hear every word! I suppose asking you to
behave like adults was just expecting too much!”
Well,
you don't find roses growing on stalks of clover/so you better
think it over!
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20151026 Promise You a Rose Garden
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