Sunday, January 30, 2011

DR. B'S BUSINESS RECORDS CLASS

DR. B'S BUSINESS RECORDS CLASS
                                  - Donna DiPietro

When I was in high school, I had Dr. B for Business Records class. Dr. B was very strict and he told the students that we had to call him ‘Dr.’ B, and if we forgot and called him ‘Mr.’ B by mistake he would make us stay after school. He was of slight build, wore glasses, was meticulous in his wardrobe and had black hair slicked back in the style of the day. I noticed that he wore clear nail polish which I had never seen on a man before. I was always a quiet and shy girl and would seldom raise my hand to answer a question even if I knew it. On the first day of Business Records class, Dr. B told the class that when we arrived each day, the first thing we were to do was to open our books. On the second day of class I sat down at my desk and immediately opened my book and Dr. B screamed “Oh no, don’t open your books!!!” I thought he was yelling at me for opening my book but in reality he saw that the other students hadn’t opened theirs and he probably did not even notice that I opened mine. I was so frightened by his screaming voice that I immediately shut my book. I then looked around and everyone was opening theirs so I opened mine and thought it was quite amusing and apparently I had a little smile on my face because Dr. B rushed over to me and said there would be no smiling in his classroom and he told me to go outside and stand in the hall until class was over and to come back to the room after school. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before because I prided myself in always being courteous and well behaved. When school ended I went to Dr. B’s third floor classroom, walked inside and saw there were quite a few students sitting there. After he spoke to a few of the students and he let them leave, he asked me to come up to his desk and tell him why I smiled during class. I told him that I had opened my book when I sat at my desk and that he yelled “Oh no, don’t open your books!!!”, so I closed mine and saw everyone opening theirs and then realized he was yelling at everyone else, and that I thought it was funny and that’s why I smiled. He also thought it was funny and he actually smiled, and from that day on he was always pleasant to me. I sense he was bullied throughout his life and used his screaming fits and control over his students as a defense, but in so doing he was also being a bully and negatively affecting the young people in his class. One day Dr. B told the class that we were having a test the next day and if someone did not show up and take the test they would fail the test because there would be no make up test. He said there would be no excuses and he did not care if someone was out sick. I happened to look across the room and saw a particular boy in the first seat, last row. Something told me that he would not be in school the next day because his father was going to die. This was the first time I had a precognition of what was to happen but I did not understand it and I did not know it would really happen. The boy was in some of my other classes and the next day at school I did not see him. I asked some of the students where he was and was told that his father had died of a heart attack the day before playing baseball. I felt so sorry for the boy and his family and also perplexed of how I could know what was going to happen. These are the things I remember about Dr. B’s third floor Business Records class. I sense Dr. B is no longer with us and hope that he has found a comfortable place to spend his eternity.

3 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed reading your latest entry. I wonder if anything extraordinary happened around this time in your life that prompted your ability to foresee the future. Please don't ever stop sharing your cases!

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  2. Donna I really enjoyed reading this post.
    You described this professor brillantly.
    Your fame and fortune is in your near future.
    Jean

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  3. Donna....what an apt description of Dr. B. I wonder if I was in your class. I couldn't get my book opened fast enough when I was in there. i too had a similar experience with him and he was always pleasant to me after. I agree with your insight that he must have been bullied as a child. Wonderful blog.
    jo-anne

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