The knife confiscating witch.

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Justice done! Honors to you fellows for being true to the American Spirit of the founding fathers. Good for you guys!
 
Jackknife, thanks again for an excellent tale. I always enjoy them. The other night when you posted one I was feeling a little whiny and your story really did me good. I was sitting here bleeding and hoping it would quit so I wouldn't have to go back to the emergency room. Well, it didn't, I went, and they kept me for two days. Now I am enjoying another one of your fine stories and and doing reasonably well. What deal! :D
 
jackknife said:
JEEZ DOC, WHAT THE HECK DID YA DO TO YOURSELF???:eek:
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Well, sir, it's like this. Not to air out my bloody laundry too much here, but it was the third time this summer I've gone to the emergency room with a very severe nosebleed. A nosebleed sounds trivial, doesn't it? But a combination of things, including the Coumadin (blood thinner) I've been on for several years, caused me to bleed out at least 2 to 3 pints the first time, then slightly less the second and third times. Picture it running out of my nose in a steady stream. Picture a scene straight out of a slasher movie. I was very close each time to needing a transfusion, if that gives you any indication. I got by on an IV saline drip every time, mostly because I still don't quite trust the public blood supply and opted not to have some stranger's blood put into me unless I was actually dying. I just wanted to tell you that your stories sometimes do more good than you realize. Thanks. Now I'm just keepin' on keepin' on and taking my iron pills. :D
 
Good story, Jackknife..

It reminds me of mine own, only the other way..
Her name was Mrs. White.. My third grade teacher.. I had just been given a new stockman for my birthday by my favorite uncle...with instructions on how to use it without cutting my fingers off. The next day in class, I was showing my best friend, Pancho, my new knife..As an aside, Pancho and I became best friends after having a daily fight after school for a week.. I was the new kid in class and a gringo to boot.. This was in Texas.. Well, after that week, we decided that we might as well become friends to save the wear and tear on both of us. Long story short, we became best friends and hermanos..His mom made the best mexican food in town..lol..Anyway, I was showing Pancho my new knife when I heard Mrs. White's voice from the front of the class room calling me to her desk.. Of course she asked me what Pancho and I were getting into now...I told her that I was showing him my new knife.. She asked me to show it to her and I did.. I also told her that my uncle had told me how to be safe with the knife.. She smiled and said to be sure and follow his advise and to put it my pocket and pay attention in class.. A short time later I heard her say in a somewhat loud voice that she was having trouble with the pencil sharpener on the wall. She called my name and I went up to her desk in front of the class. She told me that the pencil sharpener was not working and would I sharpen a few of her pencils for her. You can imagine how proud a third grader was to get to sharpen the teacher's pencils in front of the class..When I finished, she thanked me and, smileing, said that she had a knife somewhat like mind at home that her father had given her. Needless to say for the rest of that year, Mrs. White owned me.. and Pancho too... Whatever she needed help with in class, she could count on us.. That was a long time ago and times have sure changed, but whenever I pull out a stockman to whittle or cut something I always think back to a teacher that made quite an impact on a small boy's life.. I have not seen Pancho in over 50 years but I like to think that the same thoughts occur to him and remind him of his gringo friend..
Wolfe
 
[digidude];4841927 said:
So Jacknife, when are you gonna get around to writing a book?
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That short story once a week is good enough for me! I lick my chops whenever a new one shows up.
 
:cool: As a teacher, I have very mixed feelings about this story and will probably have to post more as I organize my thoughts and feelings concerning it. Yes, the teacher was very strict and a bit harsh. Yes, she might have found a better way to deal with the situation. Yes, she might have turned a blind eye to boys using their pocket knives to repair shoe laces in the playground during recess. Yes, the commando raid to liberate confiscated knives was an interesting and funny story - I am old enough to remember "The Little Rascals" television shows and I enjoy tales of mindless authority being thwarted.

However, the story fails to mention what might have happened to the teacher if she had not confiscated the knives. Parental complaints, threats of lawsuits, loss of employment and pension are some possible consequences if a classroom teacher uses common sense instead of rigid adherence to policies and regulations concerning pocket knives ("deadly weapons") in a classroom. Although the teacher may not intend to be a "witch", she probably know that she will be abandoned by the school adinistration and the school board if any incident occurs or if any complaint is raised concerning the "deadly weapons", no matter how many knives are used daily in the local community. The local school board will also not provide any assistance to a teacher who uses common sense concerning classroom and educatioal issues; most school boards are only concerned with raising SAT-10 scores and keeping money flowing into the school system. When there is an issue involving a teacher, the teacher will be hung out to dry.

Unlike Jackknife and my own parents, I did not attend school in a small town or a farming community. I am a science teacher, like to bring students on field trips and try to supplement academic instruction with review of basic safety rules concerning hand tools. I have told students about experiences backpacking, working in the national forest in Southeast Alaska and living in a Samoan village as a Peace Corps volunteer. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a generational and cultural gap where knives and other tools are concerned. Televison, rap music and video games have conditioned students and parents to think of knives only as weapons for violence, warfare and crime.

One funny parody of cultural changes regarding school climate and cultural changes is found on the Internet under titles similar to "1958 versus 2008" listed with different authors. I will try to post a link, then add some of my own observations. Many of us can think of similar differences between then and now.
Faiaoga
 
We all know that staying relevant on the internet is a hard thing to do. Things move so quickly, as do ideas, concepts, and perceptions which have been influenced or actually formed from internet information.

Staying relevant on this subforum can easily be accomplished by reading the date stamp on posts which can be found in the upper right hand corner of the posts themselves. If you will check out post previous to yours, you will see that this original post is pushing six years old... SIX!

No need to be so concerned over ancient (in internet terms) history. This thread would have been long gone in the archives had it not been for your thread necromancy.

And if you read more of the postings from the denizens of this group, you will find that trying to politically "correctify" them might be time better spent with your students.

I have two very good friends that are teachers, and once teachers, it took them years to get their sense of humor back. The gravity of life itself was so heavy that it hung on them like a pall. They eventually eased back into a normal life.

Carl's vignettes are harmless. They are entertaining, some thoughtful, and always a good read. It plays him falsely to try to read some nefarious scheming or encouragement of bad behavior into them. Take a deep breath, take the weight of society off your shoulders for a moment, and read his stories that are posted in the main page of this sub forum. You'll get the idea then.

Robert
 
Faiaoga said:
:cool: As a teacher, I have very mixed feelings about this story and will probably have to post more as I organize my thoughts and feelings concerning it. Yes, the teacher was very strict and a bit harsh. Yes, she might have found a better way to deal with the situation. Yes, she might have turned a blind eye to boys using their pocket knives to repair shoe laces in the playground during recess. Yes, the commando raid to liberate confiscated knives was an interesting and funny story - I am old enough to remember "The Little Rascals" television shows and I enjoy tales of mindless authority being thwarted.

However, the story fails to mention what might have happened to the teacher if she had not confiscated the knives. Parental complaints, threats of lawsuits, loss of employment and pension are some possible consequences if a classroom teacher uses common sense instead of rigid adherence to policies and regulations concerning pocket knives ("deadly weapons") in a classroom. Although the teacher may not intend to be a "witch", she probably know that she will be abandoned by the school adinistration and the school board if any incident occurs or if any complaint is raised concerning the "deadly weapons", no matter how many knives are used daily in the local community. The local school board will also not provide any assistance to a teacher who uses common sense concerning classroom and educatioal issues; most school boards are only concerned with raising SAT-10 scores and keeping money flowing into the school system. When there is an issue involving a teacher, the teacher will be hung out to dry.

Unlike Jackknife and my own parents, I did not attend school in a small town or a farming community. I am a science teacher, like to bring students on field trips and try to supplement academic instruction with review of basic safety rules concerning hand tools. I have told students about experiences backpacking, working in the national forest in Southeast Alaska and living in a Samoan village as a Peace Corps volunteer. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a generational and cultural gap where knives and other tools are concerned. Televison, rap music and video games have conditioned students and parents to think of knives only as weapons for violence, warfare and crime.

One funny parody of cultural changes regarding school climate and cultural changes is found on the Internet under titles similar to "1958 versus 2008" listed with different authors. I will try to post a link, then add some of my own observations. Many of us can think of similar differences between then and now.
Faiaoga
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Please, please stop resurrecting old threads. We all love Carl's stories, but read them and leave them be (except new ones of course).
Just to add; Carl is older then me, and I'm 62. Back in the day that story visits, there was no issue from parents, school boards or anyone else about a kid having a jack knife in his pocket. Different times today for sure.

Feel free to start a new thread comparing the old days and new, as it applies to traditional knives.
Thanks
 
Wel, I've read Carl's stories in the sticky more than 1 time and I can't believe I missed this one.
Great read nevertheless.
 
lol when I was in Boy Scout only a few people had totin chips (litle card you carry that proves you know how to use a knife)
So when some one was a jerk to you would tell the scout master and there knife would get taken away;) i needless to say was nice to every one i carried a frn native at the time didn't want that getting taken away. that troop was.......interesting made some good friends though!
 
I'm not as old as some here but truthfully a Barlow or pocket knife has never been considered a deadly weapon to me. This story is probably set in the 40's and even in the 70's early 80's a pocket knife wasn't a banned item in school. And I don't think anyone thought they were a deadly weapon until just in the last few years. PC is going to wreck this country. I sure hope you feel safer because I sure don't.
 
Awesome story! At my high school today, (I'm a sophomore) I will happily let you know plenty of kids still carry pocket knives.Sure, it's against the rules, but I see pocket clips on other students all day long.The principal surely knows, because it's hard to miss.He kinda turns a blind eye to it, you know? Now, if you were to take it out of your pocket in certain classes you face certain expulsion.Other teachers don't care.One kid took out a SOG trident in class and the teacher said "cool, where did you get that?" My shop teacher regularly carries a pocket knife. Some kids sell knives out of their back backs, it's usually some tactical Gerber or something though.I play the safe side and keep mine at home.
 
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