My Teacher is Evil

Every year, on the first day of school, the boys come home and Poo asks each of them: "your new teacher is nice, isn't she?"

I used to think that this was a question and the boys are free to respond as they see fit, but now I realize that Poo is just checking that they understand the system. There is only one acceptable answer: "yes, she is nice, soooooo nice."

In Thailand, all the teachers are nice. They are highly respected and we would never dare to criticize them. That's just the way it is -- it is a fact, like 1 + 1 = 2. My Thai teacher has a theory: women are teachers instead of men because women are nicer. Kindness is a quality of teachers just like bravery is a quality of soldiers, or speed is a quality of sprinters.

Today my teacher gave us heaps of homework. I came home and played with Jason for a while, but then I told him: "Jason, I can't play with you anymore -- I must do my homework. I have soooooo much homework, and it's soooooo hard -- my teacher is evil!"

Jason's eyes spread wide open. Then he looked nervously at Poo, turned back to me and declared, "me, too! I have soooooo much homework, and it's soooooo hard -- my teacher is evil!"

Poo threw her hands on her hips, and asked angrily: "Jason! Is your teacher evil or is she nice?"

Jason paused, looked at me, glanced at Poo, turned back to me with a sly grin and declared, "She's evil!"

Uh-oh. Maybe this is the beginning of the end -- the Americanization of Jason.