Tessa, 

Got a call from my Jr. High principal yesterday.  His assistant, actually.  "Hi, David.  This is Steve Groen's assistant calling."  Whoooosh.  I heard nothing more she said.  Suddenly I was 13 years old, sitting in a chair strategically designed to give Steve Groen a height advantage over whichever student had earned their way into his office this time.

Today, I was that kid.  I was that kid most of the time.  3 tardies earned you detention.  That rule alone was enough to award me the lion's share of the available detentions, but today I was in for trying to start a club.  It was a club that, for a small admission fee ($20) allowed you into the group.  We had a dozen members.  Once in, you had the chance to guess who'd win all the NFL games for the upcoming season.  The member with the most correct guesses won a bunch of the admission money.  Me and my buddy Matt pocketed a healthy share for coming up with the idea.  Everyone was happy.  Especially the younger kids, who would have paid $20 just to sit with the older kids at lunch.

To Mr. Groen, this club was less of a club, and more of combination gambling/swindling outfit.  I was not so much Co-Chair of the Football Appreciation Club, as I was "totally out of line, young man."  It sounded so much worse when he said it.  It always sounded worse coming out of his mouth than it did inside my head.  And so that was detention #1 in a limited collectible series of 47; all signed by me, and Mr. Groen, and my parents.  My mom instituted a 1 Detention = 1 Hour of Vacuuming rule, and we had the cleanest house that year.

"Mr. Groen heard you had taken a job with Bethlehem Covenant, and was hoping you could speak to the kids at chapel next month."  I told her that I was responsible for most of Mr. Groen's grey hairs, and that I seriously doubted he wanted me back in the building.  She laughed, and I realized she thought I was joking.  Sure, I can speak at chapel; I probably owe the guy that much.  47 hours of detention, absolved by 20 minutes of every man's worst fear.  Sigh.  He told me once that I'd look back and wish I'd behaved myself more often.  I just didn't think this would be the reason.