Of Pennies and Humble Pie - a true story inspired by a post from @bendjmiller222
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A quirky, cool teacher
Back in high school, Mr. Izkowitz was a pretty cool English teacher. Upperclassmen who'd previously graced his class often had tales of woe about him. He was strict and his class was often dubbed one of the hardest. Students either loved him or hated him. There was no middle ground.
I often stayed after school for extra help or extra credit and we had great conversations about literature and writing. In those times, I realized he had a wicked sense of humor and was smart as a whip. If I met him today, I'd probably embrace him as a friend.
Now, in high school we had about 5 minutes to get from one class to another. The rush and crush of students was pretty much a claustrophobic experience, but Mr. Itzkowitz also roamed the halls with us as a hall monitor. He never seemed to be in any rush. He just kind of meandered and smiled. Many of the girls waved at him as the boys passed by with a high five.
And there was more than one occasion where I've seen him practically pick up a few boys by the scruff of the neck if they were fighting. Taller than most of the kids, he had wild curly hair, a fat mustache, and a wide, even smile. Come to think of it, he was a bit wild-eyed too; a right quirky fellow.
Some asshole kids
But there was a group of kids - the more popular, rich kids - who liked nothing more than bringing misery to those they felt unworthy of their presence. Okay. They were complete assholes.
Every day they'd toss pennies on the floor and laugh as Mr. Itz smiled widely as if he'd found a precious gem and picked all of them up.
The girls giggled behind their books. "Oh my god, he's such a beggar!"
The boys laughed and called him a dog, tossing pennies or their change from lunch on the floor to see him grovel.
Did I mention they were assholes?
I admit, at the time, I felt like of ashamed of them all. Why did those kids have to be so mean and disrespectful? Why did Mr. Itz take that kind of abuse?
The lesson begins
But, you see, Mr. Itz didn't care what they said about him. He just hummed aloud, smiled, and mosied around picking up coins.
It was getting toward the end of the year and I stayed after school to study for finals when I asked him why he allowed them to be so insolent.
He wiggled his bushy eyebrows and winked. "Ask me tomorrow in class," was all he said.
Being terribly shy at the time, asking the teacher about the pennies in front of the whole class was pretty terrifying.
But the next day came around and there I was sitting in English class. All the hard work was done and we were just reviewing material for the finals. Somehow we got into an open class discussion about the consequences of our actions. That's when he looked my way and winked - the signal to raise my hand and ask the question.
"Yes, Meredith?"
All eyes turned toward me. FUCK! I could feel my entire body flushing with embarrassment.
"Mr. Itz, why do you pick up all the pennies? They're only pennies."
The asshole kids began snickering. Yeah, I had the misfortune of having a lot of them in my class including their ring leader, James.
So he got up from his chair and sat on the front edge of his desk. Casually crossing his feet and arms, he asked in his deep voice, "Class, why would I pick up a penny?"
"Maybe because you're poor."
"Because you need a new shirt?"
Because. Because. Because. Just about everyone had a remark - some nicer than others - but overall, they weren't thinking of his question as one to reflect on, but rather as another tool to tear at him.
One of the snotty girls said, "You can't do anything with a penny."
That's when Mr. Itz got up and went behind his desk, pulling out a 3-gallon water jug from beneath his desk. With a big THUNK, he put it on the desk for all to see. It was FULL of loose change.
"A penny alone might not be worth much, but if you put them all together it's worth a lot more. When you see a penny you might ignore it, but I see Christmas shopping. I stayed up all night counting this." He looked straight at James and said, "I've got over 300 dollars" [sic]
It was my pleasure to see James turn bright red this time.
Eat that, James!
And as the bell rang signaling the end of class, James, surrounded by his cronies whined, "That's my money."
But this time Mr. Itzkowitz spoke up. "Finders keepers. Losers weepers."
Didn't he get the last laugh?
Go on with your bad self, Mr. Itz! You the man.
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Meredith Loughran blogs at ScribblingBandits.com | Follow her on Twitter & SnapChat or LinkedIn
Boom! Have some pennies!
Pennies from the silver hoarder! YOU'RE A ROCK STAR
Very cool story! Glad to have brought this memory of yours to the surface. Mr. Itz is a wise teacher indeed! Similar to the new people here who are "minnows" some do not care if minnow like or follow their posts, because they only wish for whales and short term gains. Every vote and follower is valuable to me because not only do I love meeting and inspiring people like you, but investing in people yields results that you likely can't forsee. If I helped someone new in some way and they start making great rewards in a niche tag, it's likely they won't forget the kindness of those who helped them in the beginning and not only return the favor to them, but to other new users.
It's a beautiful system that steemit has developed and I look forward to reading more of your posts @merej99 keep up the good work!
It is very appropriate to the Steemit community. I admit I was whale watching early on but never felt like I was invisible. Speaking realistically, if you're new here there should be no expectation of immediate reward unless you reach out to the community and get to know them. We're all pennies. Some are shiny. Some are a little weathered and many of us have some scars but put us in a big old bottle and we've got a bang up system of content creators and supporters.
Oh! I just thought of this!
Be the coin tossed into the water fountain for a wish...not the jackass who dives in to steal them.
I love it. Hoping more people discover your content. I submitted it to the #curie chatroom and I know some that frequent the room voted on it, so I'm glad it has received a bit of reward, but regardless of that, you have the mentality that will take you far.
Too many people come in and expect writing great articles will just magically make them lots of money. Unless they are bringing a massive following, they need to engage and help others before their own content is read by many and rewarded.
Hard work is rewarded. Whether that is ten new followers or a whale vote, eventually it will happen if content is consistently good.
It's a shame some great writers only try five or six articles and give up before they have a following that could really vault them into a position to possibly quit a second part time job or buy something to further fuel their passions.
Steemit is what people want it to be. If you use it to post a picture like instagram, you might make a few dollars. If you treat it as a professional blog platform and engage with users it can make you hundreds. If you work really hard, network, collaborate and work your ass off, it can mean thousands. While not a direct correlation to the amount of hours put in, those who put in lots of time tend to have far more success.
My upvote just gave you a penny!
Brilliant! I'll take them all. I left pride a long time ago. LOL
WTG Mr Itz,
Loved this post meredith, James reminds me of a girl i used know who would do the same to the guy sweeping the street.
James was always teasing me too. He was mean and arrogant. I'm happy to report that he's fat and bald, and from what I'm told, a lot more humble now. Karma. :D
Haha, go Mr Itz!
Guess those kids learned "a penny saved is a penny earned."
When I was a kid there was a guys that used to cruise my neighborhood every thursday morning in a beat up old pick up truck collecting on the cans out of the recycleable pals. 5 cents a pop, did it for years. Until one day I saw him driving a BRAND NEW pickup truck!
I love those 5 cent cans! They don't have them in Florida but man, between my kids' soda and husband's beer, we'd buy steak for dinner. :)
Haha, yeah it CAN (no pun intended) definitely add up.
I'm in Florida too. Grew up in NY though (like most people in South Florida) and was excited to not have to pay the deposit tax anymore. :-)
Holy crap! I'm a New York transplant too. Orange County...where there are more cows than cabs. LOL
Good point about the deposit tax. I'm still wondering how much junk aluminum will get me in an attempt to keep what I can out of the landfills.