Chinese, Spanish Team, Dirty Knees, Look at These

So I heard about it, read about it and now as I'm eating my packed lunch (which consists of a turkey sandwich and a jello pudding snack) I'm blogging about it. The Spanish Olympic team while posing for a photo decided to make "Slanted eyes" in a playful gesture about being in Beijing. Was it the smartest move the Spanish Olympic Basketball team could have made? Probably not. In fact it brought me back to seventh grade. I had a geography teacher, Mr. Dorfman. (I wish I could make up a name that great)

Mr. Dorfman was an engaging teacher, one of the many great teachers at Cunha Middle School. (Someday I'll blog about the Cunha years) I'd show you a picture of him but he refused to ever be photographed. (Maybe a little creepy in hindsight) Every Friday at lunch he would replay the "Simpsons" episode which played on fox the night before. It was like going to the movies at school.

Mr. Dorfman had all the school in a buzz over his map races. In fact he had a giant map in his room which he used. Students would compete against each other in a one on one competition to see who could find the Country, State, City that Mr. Dorfman had just announced. I remember his little finger on his right hand was permanently retracted because he had lost the ligament in it. (speaking of fingers you can get a great deal more out of your pudding snack if you use your index finger at the end. It's a bit messy but we're talking like 5 to 10% more pudding) Sorry to digress.

In any event one day we were going over some geographical facts he wanted to go through an example. I don't clearly remember the details only that as an object he was using students to represent places. He began by using me as China. I without thinking turned to my fellow students and made the "Slanted eyes".

No sooner than I did it Mr. Dorfman stopped and said "not funny" and then immediately removed the assignment from me and placed it on another student. I was crushed. I felt so dumb for doing it. It was so knee jerk on my part that I didn't even think about others feelings.

To be quite honest my friend Christian Chee was the only kid my age that was Chinese. I'm pretty sure he wasn't in the class with me so I didn't know who I would was hurting. I did however offend Mr. Dorfman and that made me fell so small.

There I was feeling like a big dummy for making that mistake. I've never done it again. I was 12 and I had learned a lesson that has always followed me. I'm sure these Spaniards feel enormously small for what they did. I'll forgive them, I can empathize.