This Changes Everything

by Darrell Maloney

  She’d always used small words so the youngest of them wouldn’t be at a disadvantage or be forced to ask what something meant.

  She realized she needed to add another lesson to her weekly curriculum. A language course to help expand the children’s vocabulary.

  But that was later. Right now she already had a subject to discuss.

  “Etiquette is merely following good manners.

  “It’s why you do what you’re told, even if it’s not your mother or father but some other adult who tells you to do it.

  “It’s why you always wash your hands when you go to the dinner table.

  “It’s why you don’t belch without saying ‘excuse me.’”

  “What’s belch, Miss Karen?”

  “It’s a burp, Amanda.”

  “What about a fart, Miss Karen?”

  The question came from Paulie, the class clown. The other kids giggled.

  “Same rule applies, Paulie. If you pass gas anywhere in the presence of other people, you apologize or say, ‘excuse me.’

  “Etiquette is when people expect others to behave in a kind and civil…

  “I never wash my hands before I go to the dinner table,” Robbie said.

  “Then that’s poor etiquette, Robbie. Just like interrupting your teacher when she’s talking.”

  “Sorry, Miss Karen.”

  “Etiquette is manners on a small scale. Like when you’re at home with your family or playing with your friends. It basically means being nice to others. Not arguing, waiting your turn, not interrupting, that kind of thing.

  “Everybody got it?”

  Six little heads bobbed up and down.

  “Common courtesy is much like etiquette, only when you’re with strangers instead of friends and family.

  “Any time you’re out in public, like going in or out of a grocery store, you always hold the door open for someone coming in behind you.

  “When you’re driving down the street and someone suddenly pulls their car in front of you, you don’t yell at them or blow your horn. You just assume they made a mistake and didn’t see you and go on your way.”

  Paulie giggled but didn’t say anything.

  “Paulie, did you have something to share with the rest of the class?”

  “No ma’am. Well, maybe yes ma’am. None of us have ever been to a grocery store. And none of us have ever been in a car either.”

  It was a good point and Karen back-tracked just a bit.

  “Well yes, that’s true, Paulie. But I’m hopeful now that the second freeze is going away, the world will soon get back to normal.

  “I’m hopeful that at some point in your lives you’ll all be shopping for groceries and going to and from your jobs and church on Sundays.

  “I hope you can take your families to restaurants and bowling alleys and movie theaters. In short, I hope you’ll have as many opportunities to live your lives just as fully as your parents did before the world got cold.

  “And that brings me to the last phrase I wanted to teach you: societal norms.

  “Societal norms aren’t much different from etiquette and common courtesy. It’s just on a larger scale.

  “Remember it this way…

  “Etiquette is nothing more than the good manners you use when you’re with your family and good friends.

  “Common courtesy is when you apply those same habits in public, to people you don’t know. A wider audience, if you will.

  “Societal norms are the same behaviors on an even grander scale. Say, in the way two cities treat one another.

  “If the fans of one college go to another town to watch their football team play a rival school, the other school is expected to treat the opposing fans with dignity and respect. They don’t yell at them or curse them. They understand the opposing fans love their own team just as they love theirs and they respect them for that.”

  Paulie spoke up again.

  “Miss Karen, we’ve never been to a football game either. We’ve seen them on the TV recordings Markie’s dad brought into the mine with us the first time, but we’ve never seen one in person.

  “Well someday I hope you have the opportunity to, Paulie.

  “Now then, does anyone know how we ensure that things like etiquette, common courtesy and societal norms happen and aren’t just ignored by everyone?”

  Amy raised a hand and ventured a guess.

  “Laws and rules?”

  “Yes. Laws and rules. Great answer, and thank you, Amy.

  “As an example, when you burp at the dinner table your mom may reprimand you by sending you to your room.

  “And if Paulie interrupts his teacher again I’m going to make him stand in the corner. Those who violate etiquette, common courtesy or societal norms must be reminded it’s not acceptable behavior and corrected. That way they learn to behave better in the future.”

  -54-

  “Now then,” Karen continued, “the whole reason I planned this lesson for today is so that when we break out of the mine and go back out into the great big world again you people have the tools to behave properly in society.

  “Living in society means you must always be on your very best behavior. You must always be on your guard not to say or do anything which hurts anyone else or causes them any kind of distress.

  “For example, Markie, let’s talk for just a minute about “DoeDoe.”

  “Dodo, the deer?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “What about her, Miss Karen?’

  “Well, I overheard part of a conversation you had yesterday. You were describing how you came up with her name.”

  She went to the whiteboard and wrote upon it with a dry erase marker:

  DOEDOE

  DODO

  Then she addressed the class as a whole.

  “Two different names which are spelled differently but which sound exactly the same.

  “Can anyone tell me the significance of the first name?”

  The blank faces returned. This time instead of bobbing they each shook from side to side.

  She explained, “D-O-E is how we spell doe. A doe is a female dear.

  “In the livestock area in back of Bay 18 we have a young hog that was named PigPig when he was born.

  Little Amy practically jumped out of her seat.

  “Ooh ooh, that’s the one I named!”

  “That’s right, Amy. And it’s an excellent name. It’s rather silly for a pig, but then again you’re rather silly for a girl.”

  The rest of the class giggled, but Amy took it in stride. She considered herself the teacher’s pet and knew Miss Karen loved her unconditionally.

  Karen walked over and placed a hand on Amy’s shoulder to make sure the child knew she was only teasing.

  Amy continued to beam as Karen went on.

  “Now then, since we already have a PigPig, when Markie suggested DoeDoe for the female deer I assumed her was naming her after her species in the very same manner.”

  She looked directly at Markie, who slunk down in his seat just a bit.

  He could see a bad storm, or at least a small lecture, on the horizon.

  “I found out last night I was wrong,” she continued.

  “Can anyone tell me the significance of the second word on the board?”

  Markie slunk down even further. He knew quite well the significance. But he darned sure wasn’t going to volunteer it.

  Amanda raised her hand and gave it a go.

  “Miss Karen, isn’t that the name of an extinct bird?”

  “Yes, Amanda. It is indeed.

  “The dodo was a bird which had a very large beak and which couldn’t fly.

  “And Amanda is right. It went extinct a very long time ago. Long before you or I were born.

  “Even long before your parents or grandparents or great grandparents were born.

  “The word extinct means that they’re all gone. They’ve all died long ago and will never return.

  “Now then, I know it�
�s not fair to the bird, but the dodo has earned a reputation as being a bird which wasn’t very smart.

  “No one knows how or why the bird gained that reputation. It’s possibly because the bird couldn’t fly, and perhaps couldn’t migrate to other places when it was threatened by predators or environmental challenges.

  “But that’s certainly no reason to imply it wasn’t very smart. There are a lot of birds which cannot fly. Penguins, for example, or ostriches.

  “Chickens and turkeys are birds, but they can only fly for very short distances. No one calls them stupid.

  “But for whatever reason, dodos gained a reputation for being not very bright. It may have something to do with them being portrayed that way in a classic book called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

  “Has anyone ever heard of the book, or has anyone read it?”

  Only two heads nodded, which surprised Karen. She’d assumed every one of them had read the book or seen the movie.

  She made a mental note to find a copy in the mine’s library and to have them take turns reading it aloud.

  She pressed on.

  “Anyway, none of us were around when the dodo lived on earth. So we don’t know whether he really was slow and awkward and not very smart. For all we know he might have been brilliant. He might have been the Albert Einstein of the bird world.”

  She turned her attention back to Markie, who’d slunk as low as he could in his seat and had nowhere else to go.

  “Now then, Mr. Snyder…”

  Markie knew he was doomed. Miss Karen never called anyone by their surname unless they were about to be made an example of.

  “Can you tell the rest of the class why you gave our female deer the name of an extinct bird?”

  “Um… because it sounded cool?”

  “Try again, Mr. Snyder. Let me make it easy on you. Just say what you told your mother last night when you told her how you named the deer.”

  “Um… I said I named her Dodo because her eyes were crossed and she looked dumb.”

  Amy and Amanda both looked at him, mouths open in faux shock.

  Markie started to sweat.

  Everyone else just looked puzzled.

  They still didn’t see where Miss Karen was going.

  -55-

  Miss Karen wouldn’t keep them wondering for long.

  “Markie… one of the biggest societal norms is mutual respect between all parties involved.

  “Friends… neighbors… co-workers… business associates… politicians… teachers… everyone in general. Do you know what mutual respect means?”

  “Um… no ma’am.”

  “Mutual respect is when you treat everyone with kindness. You don’t disparage them, and you expect them not to disparage you in return.”

  Karen suspected she was the only one in the room who knew the definition of disparage, but no one raised their little hand to ask what it meant so she continued.

  “Does anyone remember the golden rule? We talked about it a bit last year, if I recall.”

  Amy raised her hand.

  “Yes, Amy?”

  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

  “Very good. Can you explain what that means?”

  “Treat people the same way you want them to treat you.”

  “Very good, Amy. Thank you so much.”

  Amy smiled and looked over at Markie.

  He was in the doghouse and she wasn’t.

  She wanted so much to stick her tongue out at him but thought it unwise.

  “Now then, back to you, Mr. Snyder…”

  Markie swallowed hard.

  “Yes ma’am?”

  “Tell me, Markie. Your Uncle Bryan wears glasses. Does that make him stupid or less smart than anyone else?”

  “Um… no ma’am.”

  “Your father sometimes walks with a slight limp. An old high school football injury, I think he told me once.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Because he walks with a limp, do you consider him stupid or less smart than anyone else?”

  “No ma’am.”

  “Your mom, and one of my very best friends… since her helicopter crash two years ago she lost some hearing in her left ear. Did you know that?”

  “Yes ma’am. Sometimes she asks me to repeat something or speak louder.”

  “And is she stupid for asking you that? Did losing part of her hearing make her less smart than anyone else?”

  “No ma’am. She’s very smart. She’s… well, she’s my mom.”

  “Of course she is, sweetheart. And you’d never ever say anything to hurt her on purpose, would you?”

  “No ma’am. I love her lots.”

  “How would it make you feel if someone called your mom a deaf dummy?”

  “I… I wouldn’t like it. I’d probably beat them up.”

  Karen smiled, then went on.

  “How about if someone called your dad a limpy dummy?”

  “I’d be mad.”

  “And your Uncle Bryan? What if somebody told you your Uncle Bryan was a big dummy who was blind as a bat?”

  “Um… I wouldn’t like that either.”

  “I didn’t think so. Because physical disabilities have nothing to do with anyone’s intelligence or how smart they are, do they?”

  “Um… no ma’am.”

  “Okay, Markie. One of society’s norms is to treat others as we’d like to be treated.

  “Another is not to treat someone unkind.

  “Or to make fun of them because of something that’s not their fault. Are you with me so far?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Very well.”

  None of the students noticed, but ten minutes before Karen reached down and keyed the microphone on her two-way radio.

  Her lesson went over the radio waves to the kitchen, where Sarah was monitoring the same channel and waiting for her cue.

  Her timing couldn’t have been better. She arrived outside the schoolhouse just as Karen went to the door and opened it.

  Every face brightened.

  All the kids loved Sarah. She was sweet and kind and always had the time to play with them and teach them things.

  “Hi, Sarah,” Karen said as she stepped into the classroom. “Did you find it?”

  “Yes, I did,” Sarah said, and pulled something out of her pocket.

  By now everyone was lost.

  Sarah addressed the group.

  “When I was a young girl I suffered from a condition called Strabismus. Have any of you ever heard of it?”

  The blank stares were back.

  “Strabismus is a condition which affects the eyes. They do not work together very well. They focus on different things. It can be very frustrating and very painful, and trust me, it’s not something any of you want to have.

  “When I was seven I had surgery to correct the problem, and it was the best thing ever for me.”

  She looked to Karen, who tagged in.

  “Does anyone know the more common term for Strabismus?”

  The blank faces shook their heads almost in unison.

  “It’s more commonly known as crossed-eyes.”

  Sarah handed Amy the photograph she’d taken from her pocket and said, “Please pass this around so everyone can see it.

  “It’s a photo of me, when I was seven. It was taken right before my surgery. As you can see, my eyes were horribly crossed.”

  As the photo was passed around Karen’s point was made.

  Markie felt like a chump.

  “Let’s not make assumptions about others based on their appearance or disabilities. Humans or animals,” Karen said to Markie.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

  **************************

  Thank you for reading

  Final Dawn Book 15:

  THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

  Please enjoy this preview of the next installment in the series,

  Final Dawn Book 16
:

  THE COURT MARTIAL

  **************************

  In a landscape covered in white, where the nighttime temperatures hovered around twenty degrees, it might seem rather odd that ice was in short supply.

  Really, all one had to do to make some would be to pour water into an ice tray and place it atop a pallet in the warehouse, not even fifty feet away from where the group slept at night.

  In that regard they weren’t unlike the Inuit tribes of northern Alaska. They lived and worked in the cold virtually all the time. Their whole world was an ice cube. But asked to provide one they couldn’t.

  Frank had to resort to ripping the plastic wrap from a pallet full of zip-lock bags on Aisle 36. Then he removed a case from the pallet and ripped it open.

  From the case he removed a single box of the bags and then ripped it open as well.

  It was a lot of work to obtain a single quart-sized bag.

  But in the absence of a single darned ice cube he hadn’t much choice.

  He needed something watertight that would hold snow. It was the next best thing to an ice cube.

  And to get the snow he’d have to trek all the way to Door 58, the closest access door to the fluffy white stuff just outside the building.

  That was a ridiculously long way to walk just to get out of the building, but he could only blame himself for that.

  It was his fault, for it was his idea to weld shut nearly all the personnel doors on both sides of the building.

  “It’ll take ten minutes,” Frank said to Josie. Just hang in there. Be tough.”

  “Tough,” Josie muttered. “I’ll show that son of a bitch tough. You just wait until I get my hands on that rat bastard.”

  It was tough talk for a petite woman.

  But she was tougher than nails and meant every word.

  Partly because she grew up in a family which was hated by the community she had to be tough.

  She wasn’t one you wanted to make angry; rather, she was the one you wanted next to you walking into a knife fight.

  She’d been beaten before.

  Several times.

  Usually they were lovers, but not always.

  A year out of high school she was jogging through a park in Dallas and was accosted by a would-be rapist.