It's Called Lying By Connie Schultz [View all]

[babylonsister]

https://www.creators.com/read/connie-schultz/01/17/its-called-lying

It's Called Lying
By Connie Schultz

January 25, 2017


Her name was Miss Nelson.

I don't recall her first name. She didn't seem to need one.

She taught fifth grade at West Elementary School in Ashtabula, Ohio. In the fall of 1967, my mother dropped me off in her classroom like a failed adoption. My mother would deny that characterization, but we all knew that Miss Nelson had a reputation. She was tall and wide with a voice that carried and a mind inclined to use it. I'd never seen anybody like her.

You know how this story goes. She also had a heart bigger than a Dodge wagon. She hid it well in the first few weeks, but soon enough she was holding after-class sewing sessions for all of us girls. She claimed to be teaching us how to make clothes for our Barbie dolls, but it was just an excuse to gather us round and talk to us about how to be citizens of the world.

She believed diagramming sentences builds character and profanity is the sign of a diminished mind. She hated the word "liar," declaring it the worst thing you could ever say about a person. If he was a liar, there was no hope for him.

All these years later, I'm still so reluctant to use the word. Some people you never stop wanting to avoid disappointing.

I've been thinking of Miss Nelson a lot during the past few days — since Inauguration Day, to be precise. It hurts to the marrow of my bones to say this, but there's no use in pretending that we don't have a chronic liar in the White House.

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https://www.creators.com/read/connie-schultz/01/17/its-called-lying