I was working as a substitute teacher today and had some time to think. There wasn't a lot of time to read as I was constantly interrupted, but I did have time to think about Spring and Sprocket.
Sprocket often steals focus from Spring. She's the most fun to "listen" to much of the time. She talks and babbles and doesn't use punctuation. Spring is more assertive and she's made clear declarations of her rights and privileges. Here are some samples.
Today, however, I was thinking of Spring. The people in my classes tended to be on the obnoxious side. I imagine Spring would walk around to meet them happily and when they pet her incorrectly, she'd walk away. That's how I felt about them. They weren't petting me, of course, but I had distinctly Spring-like thoughts:
Stop.
Stop now.
You're loud.
I didn't like that.
I like when you do what I say.
Do what I say.
Now.
Stop.
Pay attention to me.
You should like me.
Now.
Now.
I didn't say those things. Not as abruptly, anyway. But sometimes I wish I knew the magical trick that Spring has. She may not get people to pay attention, but she often looks satisfied anyway. I want that part.
Posted by dotty at November 2, 2005 11:10 PM