The Loogie~

Tears poured from the eyes of one Kindergarten student who stomped up to my desk spewing, “He spit in my eye!” – I couldn’t tell at first if the tears were simply a result of his eye weeping to rid itself of the foreign loogie or if he was expelling frustration in a full on cry.  Two seconds later I reached a conclusion as his bottom lip quivered and face turned to a deep scarlet color.

I whipped on my proverbial Investigation hat and summonsed the accused perpetrator to my desk for an inquisition. The look on his face must have indicated what the look on my face was.  He was somber, struck with an instant pale-faced fear and slowly trotted to my throne (a.k.a – my desk)

“Do you know why I want to see you?”

Student: “No.”   (Now why is it that when you ask a child something like this .....Something you know  they know that you know about, such as the alleged intentional loogie incident, that they still deny any knowledge of what is unfolding in front of them? – Oh yah, it’s that thing called human nature.)

Me: “Your table mate says you spat in his eye.”

Student:  Long silence (TRANSLATION: “I did.”)

Me: - Getting braver in my old age, “Are you thinking up a lie right now?”

Student:  Shakes head left to right.

Me: “Is it true? Did you spit in his eye?”

Student:  Steeling a glance at the accuser first then nodding says, “Mmm Hmmm. – But it must have just accidently got in there when I was talking.  It just flew out or somethin’.”

And there in lies the dilemma; two people who experienced the same incident, but with very different perspectives on the forces behind how it came to be.  I was at a crossroads.  Do I exert my power and simply rule that the accused spitter is in fact lying, or do I grant the benefit of the doubt until a formal jury can weigh in on the situation? (i.e. – My colleagues across the hall)

The jury is still out as I haven’t had a chance to confer with my colleagues.  I anticipate court will resume tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.