On A First Name Basis

Since I've joined the Social Media Revolution and started using sites like Twitter and Facebook I have reconnected with a lot of people from my past such as childhood friends, past coworkers and even a few of my teachers. At first, I thought it was a bit odd receiving likes and comments from folks that used to give me a grade for conduct on a daily basis. I mean I was a pretty good student and such but I still felt self-conscious about posting commentary about "swamp ass" and "hemorrhoids." Recently, I wished one of my former teachers a happy birthday. My teacher said you can drop the mister because everyone just calls me Ron. Well, I was a bit reluctant to do this but in further email exchanges I dropped the mister and called him Ron. A few weeks later I was telling Mom what had happened and she stopped what she was doing, looked at me and said in a serious tone, "That is something that you don't do. Your teachers taught you very well and you still need to show them respect. Ron will always be Mr. Smart to you and don't you forget it." Well, when L.M. Palmer speaks, I listen. So, listed below are my former teachers and what they learned me... Mrs. Jones - (Art) I still have my hand print from kindergarten and my silhouette portrait from second grade. Mr. Smart - (Science & Basketball Coach) Don't be afraid to take the shot. Mr. Whitford - (Band) He switched me from trumpet to baritone and it took me all the way to Europe. Mr. Breeze - (History) Tidbits of useless information did indeed pay off in later life; not too many people can beat me at Trivial Pursuit. Mrs. Gray - (Math) It's been 25 years but I can still do Algebra. Maybe not take the equation all the way down to X=O, but pretty darn close. Mrs. Smith - (English) The Outsiders is still one of my favorite stories. So I say thank you to all of you; you taught me very well!