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November 22, 2010

Letting It All Hang Out

She was in the eighth grade in a Catholic school. The graduation party was at a private residence with a pool. The graduates had opted for a pool party instead of an evening dance party. This was a great concession for the principal to agree to a swim party. That meant (nervous drumroll) gasp! Bathing suits.

Only one piece bathing suits were allowed for the girls. None of those two piece things that showed a girl's belly. Outrageous, revealing skin.

This was the only year at this school. She had moved from another town and had attended a different Catholic school for seven years. So she had not grown up with the students in the eighth grade class.

This was a coed school, so there were boys in the class. The home with the pool was the home of one of the students. She had never seen such a large and expensive house from the inside before. The students were ushered to the back yard with no stops along the way, but her eyes were saucers as she saw the plush sofas and beautiful artwork on the walls and shiny wood floors. There was no envy, just amazement and wonder at how some people lived.

She followed the example of some of the other girls, swim a little bit, get out, lay on towels and work on the tan. The rest of the girls untied their straps from around their necks to keep from getting the annoying tan line, so she untied hers too. She was not used to swimming in pools or in "working on the tan". She and her brother and friends swam in the irrigation ditches and at the river bottom.

As she laid on her stomach, enjoying the camaraderie, the girls jumped up for another dip in the pool. Following their lead, she braced her arms and stood up. Oops. Her hand had been on the string that tied the top of her bathing suit. When she pushed up, the top of the bathing suit came down. So there she was for a few seconds with her top down, in front of the whole class.

It was interesting to see the faces changing from shock to kindness. Both boys and girls let the incident go. If they talked amongst themselves about it, she didn't hear it and they pretended it did not happen. That was what impressed her the most about the incident. Kindness was a new experience.

45 comments:

Shadow said...

beautiful!!!

Anne H said...

A little kindness goes a long way!

Unknown said...

It was a "who knew" moment for you, and a good one.

Rock Chef said...

Hm, reminds me of the time my shorts went the wrong way...

Betty W said...

Amazing. I was expecting something else. Goes to show you, that kindness is still alive.

CiCi said...

Shadow, Thank you.

Anne, You can imagine the shock of a first taste of kindness.

deb, a very good one.

Rock Chef, oh, you had an embarrassing moment similar to this?

Betty, there are so many kind and gentle people still.

Clippy Mat said...

I was expecting something else too. So that was a nice surprise and a good reminder that life is like that sometimes. :-)

Cindy said...

What a wonderful memorie, I had a feeling that was going to happen, glad everyone was kind about it. Thank you for your kind comment where you said the mother instinct just kicks in, I have always felt that from you, your a true nurturing soul.
hugs to you.

Brian Miller said...

wow. not always the case in these situations so it is heart warming...kindness is always nice...

Stacy Uncorked said...

I love this - kindness when least expected is always extra nice! :)

Four Is A Neff said...

AWESOME!

Jeanie said...

To experience that kindness, especially from kids that age, is a very good memory.

Unknown said...

:) that's something special

Maude Lynn said...

I'm so glad that everyone was kind. Kids can be so cruel.

DJan said...

How terrible to be exposed like that, but how lovely to be treated with kindness! You can tell that was a while ago; today's kids seem much more unpleasant. At least what I read about an increase in bullying behavior.

Liz Mays said...

I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with their reactions. Kindness is altogether rare anymore.

Eileen said...

A sweet way to experience generous hearts. And in such an unexpected way! Beautiful!
All the best,
Eileen

Lori said...

I am so thankful that you experienced kindness instead of the opposite. Beautiful words my friend. XX

Happy Monday to you and yours. :)

TALON said...

How sweet is that? It's amazing how people can totally surprise you with kindness...

Ina in Alaska said...

Ah memories.... glad it was a nice experience. Happy Thanksgiving sweet friend! If you did not check back on ye olde bloggie, what I have in the paper bag are chocolate turkeys, one for each place setting. Hubby would "gobble" them up if I did not strictly forbid him from raiding the non-perishable prep corner! xoxo

Bill Lisleman said...

great outcome for a mishap that could ruin your day.

Reminded me of times when sisters or other girls would lose parts of their suits water skiing. My dad love telling those stories.
thanks

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Those bathing suits bring back some very fond memories!

Rock Chef said...

Yes I did. I was at a fancy dress party, dressed as a gladiator. You can imagine the rest.

Sabi Sunshine said...

awesome job.

Have a beautiful Day!

Love
Sabi Sunshine

Kristina P. said...

That's pretty amazing. These days, it would end up on YouTube.

secret agent woman said...

Wow, especially impressive from teenagers. These days it wold have been caught on video, which would have gone viral onYouTube.

Robert the Skeptic said...

You can bet, though, the image was burned into the Testosterone-soaked brains of those boys. I speak from experience.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

This was great!!! I fear my classmate would not of been as kind!

God bless and enjoy this Thanksgiving week sweetie!!!

Stickup Artist said...

That's an awesome story. That incident could really have been traumatic had the students' reaction gone in a different direction. Sometimes, people can surprise you in a really good way.

Hilary said...

Such kindness and compassion. It makes one easily believe that they all grew up to (continue to) be good people.

Fragrant Liar said...

Wow, and with kids? That WAS a really unusual response.

When I was 16, I bounced on my meter board, ready to jump into the water, when I realized that my bikini top had dipped below one boob (apparently from the previous dive). So I'm bouncing up there and everyone is laughing and pointing. At me. Not a bit of kindness to be found, I'll tell you that!

Unknown said...

Kindness is my most favorite thing.
Wishing you the most wonderful of Thanksgivings! Love, Becky

Joanna Jenkins said...

Kindness is such a great experience-- That kids in the 8th grade showed it so graciously is really special.

In case I miss you, hope you and James have a wonderful Thanksgiving. xo jj

-Don said...

It's nice to know that Grace was not only being taught, but exercised. Great story. Thanks for sharing.

-DOn

Jeni said...

Boy! If something like that had ever happened to me back in my school years, I would have been mortified -probably would have (or would have wanted to anyway) died on the spot. Come to think of it, even today -at my advanced age -it would still create an issue so embarrassing to me that I'd be hard put to show my face around folks again. Old thoughts/habits do die hard I guess, huh?

stinkypaw said...

Nice turn about!

MikeWJ at Too Many Mornings said...

I'll be honest here. It was more shock than kindness that kept me quiet. But thank you. Thank you for the memories. ;-)

Unknown said...

Wonderful post. Congrats on POTW mention, so well deserved.

Out on the prairie said...

A valuable lesson in kindness to be shared and learned.

Anonymous said...

Kindness just silenced me.

Wonderful POTW!

Maria said...

There are some things which it is better not to acknowledge even though we've seen them. In this case it is a kindness to ignore.

Syd said...

I am glad that the kids were kind. Unusual for so many these days.

Cheryl Kohan said...

Oh, that made me a bit teary-eyed. Such a nice story. So happy it was chosen as POTW! Congratulations!

The Absence of Alternatives said...

I sucked in my breath for something awful and was delighted to find kindness. Kindness. Children sometimes do surprise us. I hope they keep on surprising us.

Marla said...

This was a really wonderful story. Thank you for telling it. It's nice to hear hope.