Alphabet Sighs
WORDS FROM W.W. December 14, 2016
The fourth grade class I had been assigned to be the tutor for was walking back to the classroom from recess. One of the students walked beside me and said, “Your last name is Wolfe. Mine is Woods! I wish they didn’t go in alphabetical order so much of the time. I guess we’re mostly last, aren’t we?”
“Yes, I suppose we are,” I replied. I could tell that she saw me as an end-of-the-alphabet kindred spirit.
“I wish they would go by first names, because mine starts with a “C”… Colleen!”
“And I’m a “B”…Bill! There aren’t too many first names before me, just “A’s” like Adam or Angela and then some of the “B’s” like Bob and Bonnie.”
“Bob and Bonnie would actually come after Bill.”
“Oh, you’re right! My bad!” She gave me some grace, probably figuring that, with my age, I sometimes got confused when it came to vowels and such.
She was ready to continue about her last name woes. “It just seems that when anything gets handed out I’m always the last one to receive mine. We have no X, Y, or Z’s in our class. Last week in music class the teacher was handing out instruments to people…alphabetically! Guess who got stuck with two sticks to hit together? Lame!”
“And when I order lunch that gets delivered to our classroom I’m always the last one to receive it.”
“There’s got to be something good about being at the end of the alphabet. Like if someone brings cookies to class and they get handed out, but there are extras when it comes to the end of the alphabet!”
“Well, first of all, we’re a healthy snack school so you can forget about the cookies! And second, it’s more likely that there wouldn’t be ENOUGH of whatever snack it is instead of too many! Thus…another slap in the face to a W!”
“Jesus said the last shall be first and the first shall be last.”
“He wasn’t thinking about fourth graders when he said it, though!”
“Think about all the people through the years whose last name started with a W!” Woodrow Wilson, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Webster, George Washington…”
“John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Abraham, Alexander the Great!”
She had me stumped and speechless, plus I was somewhat taken back by the fact that she knew who Alexander the Great was.
“Think of it this way. A “W” is a strong letter, a good letter. When the Chicago Cubs win a game they fly a flag with a big “W” on it. “W” is a letter of celebration. It indicates a winner, and you, Colleen, are a winner!”
She looked up at me as we were just about to enter the classroom. “I guess you’re right, Mr. Wolfe. I mean I know it’s your job to make me feel good about myself and all that, but I think you might be right. “W” could stand for a lot of good things, like “Wow” and “Willy Wonka.”
“And you know, Colleen, when there is some kind of processional march it is always the most important people who march in last!”
She stopped for a moment to let another student pass her, and also in order to be the last one to enter back into class. “Thanks, Mr. Wolfe! I think you are another “W”…wise!”
Explore posts in the same categories: Bible, children, Grace, Humor, Jesus, Parenting, Story, Uncategorized, YouthTags: alphabet, end of the alphabet, fourth grade, in alphabetical order, school, School recess, school tutor, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, the letter W, W, Wolfe
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