All this talk about one of Joni's greatest songs, along with the discussion
about kids these days, made me think of my high school years . . . when I was
assigned to Amelia's sister's sixth-period study hall!
After a lifetime working as an English teacher in my hometown's school
system, Muriel Earhart ("Ma") Morrisey was in her last year of teaching when
I was a sophomore in the late 60s. Mrs. Morrisey had reached the mandatory
retirement age of 70 by then and was a favorite of the kids who had her for
various junior- and senior-level advanced placement English courses. She was
also the author of a couple of books about her famous sister, her only
sibling. Although she was she was respected and beloved by generations of
people who passed through the town's school system, the hooligans of
sixth-period study hall were another story. And I was one of them!
The study hall was held in the science amphitheater, so the rows of desks
sloped upwards from Ma Morrisey's desk. (This was in the old high school; the
new high school, from which I graduated, is now 31 years old -- Yikes!) Now,
I don't know what's the matter with kids *these* days, but the students in
this study hall were as cruel as any I've heard of since, although we were,
fortunately, unarmed! And we weren't underprivileged gang members, either. At
the time, my town's school system was considered one of the best, if not
*the* best, in Massachusetts.
A favorite prank was to sit at one of the upper desks at the rear of the
amphitheater, make a paper airplane and send it sailing down to Mrs. Morrisey
at the front of the room while shouting, "Here comes Amelia!" By the time the
airplane crashed into the blackboard behind Mrs. Morrisey, the offending
student -- always a boy -- would have his head innocently buried in a book.
Even though I am known for having a dark sense of humor, I could never bring
myself to be this cruel to Ma. I liked her. My contribution to the general
mayhem was to use my God-given ability to sneeze on command 20 or 30 times in
a row! Aside from most of the cruel Amelia stuff that happened in this class,
I had some of the best laughs -- and gave some of the best performances -- of
my life there.
When students were caught misbehaving, Ma would get up from her desk, put her
hands on her hips and croak in an old-lady voice, "Stand in the corner." My
friend Frank, who is still one of my best friends, had the uncanny ability to
imitate her "Stand in the corner" exactly, so he spent a lot of time in the
corner before his parents put him into a private school at the end of
sophomore year. Ma was a tough woman; I never saw her lose her cool, no
matter how rough things got. The poor thing must have been counting the days
until she was free from adolescents at last, and probably wondering, "What's
the matter with kids these days . . . "
I don't know whatever happened to Mrs. Morrisey, but if she is still alive
she is over 100 years old now. I know at that she wrote at least one of her
books about Amelia during her retirement. Every time I see a photograph of
young Amelia in her aviator gear I am stuck by her resemblance to the
70-year-old woman I knew. And whenever I hear someone ask what's the matter
with kids these days, I always think of what we put poor Ma through, and that
there's probably nothing at all wrong with kids in any age; most of them are
just naughty -- and often downright mean! -- by nature.
--Bob
