I grew up around gullible family. Grandma gave me a set of Encyclopedia Britannica for my eighth birthday. I started reading from A to Z and learned to look up topics alphabetically.
You think my family would have admired me, loved me or at least respected me. Nope. Got the shit beat out me almost daily by older siblings and punished by adults when I corrected them by quoting my beloved encyclopedia books.
Then I started borrowing books from library on proper raising of children and shared my new views with guardian grandparents. Beatings became more frequent.
My new nickname was "Know it All".
Internet meant the entire world of information was at my fingertip. Fun fact, people hate having their ideas challenged. Being informed doesn't make you friends. Learning to be tactful and gentle with dispensing information does help and I would say that lesson was beat into me. Haha.
Wow, you poor kid, you had it really tough. Many difficult life lessons for sure and its great that you found solace in your wonderful Encyclopedia Britannica volumes. They could not stand the fact that you did know the what you were talking about and as such thought that they would demean you by giving you that silly nickname. In truth you did know what you were talking about. Now we benefit from you being here. I had a mean teacher in grade 3 that nicknamed me "insufferable know-it-all" LOL. Spent much quality time in the Principal's office because of it. I had an Encyclopedia Britannica series as well, LOL.
HaHa! We got the same badge of honor!
Well, as a kid you don't really know other families are kind and decent until you have some interactions that make you realize your world is messed up, or abnormal.
In one public school the male teacher took an instant dislike to me and hit me. Then marched me to principals office for a paddling. What I did I don't even remember. Something trivial like daydreaming and I got upset over being struck. As you can imagine the formal paddling in the office just pissed me off even more and after that I wouldn't participate in classroom tasks at all. So another meeting and I was transferred to a Young lady's class. She let me do whatever I wanted, participation not required. I spent most classroom time in a pegboard closet under a table and then another boy took up residence in the one next to mine. Weirdly he asked my permission and we became instant pals in our little refusnik movement. After a week we started venturing out during class time and participating more as we learned the teacher really meant we could do what we liked. She lived in apartments near my house and would pick me up on Saturdays to babysit her toddler at the pool while she vanished in her apartment.
To this day I'm grateful for her. I got prestige just having her pick me up on weekends. No teachers came to give attention to my brother and sister and I was away from them. Win win. What did I care if going to her place was boring as hell, appearances was everything and the sullen stares of my siblings as I ran out to jump in teacher's car was payback for the beatings. Besides, Teacher was kind of cute and acted like a kind aunt. I think that teacher gave me confidence and space to reengage my quest for knowledge even years later.
My grandmother idolized her friends that had any medical background but one retired nurse she let live with us really annoyed me. Back home from boarding school I helped my grandparents on their move to their summer property where this nurse was staying that year. When we got there the fridge was full of spoiled, moldy stale food the bitch was hoarding. Of course, having high grades in science, anatomy and physiology I was appalled and started tossing the garbage in a waste bin. Nurse Bitch comes rushing into the kitchen ranting and putting her rotten food back in the fridge. The more I tried reasoning with the bitch that she was endangering herself and everyone else the louder this arrogant bitch became till grandma shooed me out of the kitchen. I told my grandmother how dangerous mold, spores and spoiled food was but "we have to respect our guest". No argument worked so I ended with, "Fine then, she'll poison her liver and die in a year, say goodbye to your friend!" I avoided the bitch for the rest of the summer and learned to bite my tongue and stay out of the house.
Next summer Nurse Bitch was gone. Grandma, after some prying finally admitted I'd been right. Nurse Bitch died of liver cancer while I was in boarding school! I became the quiet food inspector, tossing out anything suspect and I still do.
Wow, awesome story. You were right about Nurse Bitch too. No question we have some things in common. When you are a kid, once adults target you, its really hard to impossible to get out of the crosshairs. Funny you should mention about daydreaming, in grade 3, I had fallen asleep in class out of sheer boredom. The teacher had yanked me out of my seat and dragged me to the Principal's office. Having been in a deep sleep, I was totally oblivious and asked what did I do wrong this time? She replied that you know damn well what you did. Outside the classroom she threatened me by saying, "ohhh if you were my kid!" and I said, "WHAT?" as in asking her what would she do? Then she started strangling me and suddenly realized what she was doing and briskly dropped her hands. So the Principal was of course ready and willing to apply punishment for sleeping in class which was 3 whacks of the strap on the open hand. This guy was enjoying it, with insane glee, jumping in the air to give maximum force. Of course I refused to ever let him see that I was in pain LOL. My fingers were purple and red for three days. The Principal then told me that if I did not like it there that I should go to another school. When I told my parents that, and how the teacher tried to strangle me they were furious and had a meeting with the Principal. After my parents returned from the meeting they accused me of fabricating that story. As a kid, I had no way of proving what those wicked people did to me. The devastating life lesson for me was twofold, first adults lie and second, that adults can deceive other adults even my parents. That was really crushing my reality bubble, LOL. Fortunately, high school was a whole new world for me, my teachers were great and professional, I enjoyed all my classes and excelled in every subject which was a positive life altering experience that gave me incredible confidence when I finally took my SAT's. In the end we find ourselves here, LOL.
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