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.
44 comments:
beautiful!!!
A little kindness goes a long way!
It was a "who knew" moment for you, and a good one.
Hm, reminds me of the time my shorts went the wrong way...
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.
I was expecting something else too. So that was a nice surprise and a good reminder that life is like that sometimes. :-)
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.
wow. not always the case in these situations so it is heart warming...kindness is always nice...
I love this - kindness when least expected is always extra nice! :)
AWESOME!
To experience that kindness, especially from kids that age, is a very good memory.
:) that's something special
I'm so glad that everyone was kind. Kids can be so cruel.
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.
I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with their reactions. Kindness is altogether rare anymore.
A sweet way to experience generous hearts. And in such an unexpected way! Beautiful!
All the best,
Eileen
I am so thankful that you experienced kindness instead of the opposite. Beautiful words my friend. XX
Happy Monday to you and yours. :)
How sweet is that? It's amazing how people can totally surprise you with kindness...
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
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
Those bathing suits bring back some very fond memories!
Yes I did. I was at a fancy dress party, dressed as a gladiator. You can imagine the rest.
awesome job.
Have a beautiful Day!
Love
Sabi Sunshine
That's pretty amazing. These days, it would end up on YouTube.
Wow, especially impressive from teenagers. These days it wold have been caught on video, which would have gone viral onYouTube.
You can bet, though, the image was burned into the Testosterone-soaked brains of those boys. I speak from experience.
This was great!!! I fear my classmate would not of been as kind!
God bless and enjoy this Thanksgiving week sweetie!!!
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.
Such kindness and compassion. It makes one easily believe that they all grew up to (continue to) be good people.
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!
Kindness is my most favorite thing.
Wishing you the most wonderful of Thanksgivings! Love, Becky
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
It's nice to know that Grace was not only being taught, but exercised. Great story. Thanks for sharing.
-DOn
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?
Nice turn about!
I'll be honest here. It was more shock than kindness that kept me quiet. But thank you. Thank you for the memories. ;-)
Wonderful post. Congrats on POTW mention, so well deserved.
A valuable lesson in kindness to be shared and learned.
Kindness just silenced me.
Wonderful POTW!
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.
I am glad that the kids were kind. Unusual for so many these days.
Oh, that made me a bit teary-eyed. Such a nice story. So happy it was chosen as POTW! Congratulations!
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.
This was a really wonderful story. Thank you for telling it. It's nice to hear hope.
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