The sins of his father...

"And he walked in all the sins of his father..." 1 Kings 15:3

It's amazing how things you do in your youth can come back to haunt you in later years.
For some, it's those embarrasing brushes with the law. For others, it's the abuse to their bodies from chemical refreshments which do some sort of permanent damage. In my case, it is a certain run in with a high school administrator for which my son may have to pay consequences.

Flash back just over a decade ago, and you would find me in high school, doing my best to avoid school work. I was much more interested in the aerodynamic principles of a frisbee or the laws of motion applied to a football at the park than anything taking place inside a classroom. Throughout the duration of my high school career, there was one Assistant Principal who could not stand my cavalier attitude toward her sacred institution. We shall call her “Rosanna”. I played Ferris Bueller to her Mr. Rooney. She hated me, and I hated her right back. She tried to get me tossed out of my high school and sent to an 'alternative' high school for students with behavior problems, right up through October of my senior year. I had a number of major family issues which had contributed to my delinquency the year before, and now it seemed that had provided her the needed ammunition in order to be victorious.

She called me into her office. “Sit down, Mr. Reid…” she sneered as she closed the door. Then she sat down at her desk and pulled out a small stack of papers. “It seems that I have what I need to finally send you to another school” she said as she searched for a pen. It was at that moment that the door opened, and in walks the Principal, whom I was actually on very good terms with. “I’ll take it from here, Rosanna” she said. She added “and you will no longer be concerned with Mr. Reid. If he has any discipline issues, I will handle them personally. Mr. Reid, if you will follow me please…” and walked out with no further debate. I thought that Rosanna’s head would explode. If looks could kill, her eyes would have opened up with laser beams and obliterated me on the spot. She never spoke another word to me. The principal took me into her office, and asked me to try to be better behaved, and to stay away from Rosanna. That was the end of that particular story in my book. Until recently.

I have a son who is in junior high. He’s a pretty good kid for the most part. His mother and I ended our relationship before he was born, but I try to spend as much time with him as I can. You know, the usual ‘every other weekend, one night a week' thing. Up until now, I’ve tried to be very involved in his schooling. I went to his school more than a few times to deal with the inevitable trips to the principals office, to meet with teachers, and the like. But it seems that Rosanna has had some advancements in her career over the last decade. She is now the principal of my son’s junior high school. She doesn't know that he is my son, because he has a different last name. I really don't want her to find out that I am related to him, because I know she is vindictive enough to take some of her unfulfilled frustrations from her previous experience with me on him. Now, when my son gets into trouble, I have to ask my wife to help me out in these situations, and she worries (rightfully so) about creating a rift in her relationship with him.

I guess that the moral of the story is that you may not want to torch the bridge, just in case your kids have to cross it…