A Day in Third Grade

Here is another funny, and not so great, story I had to write for my masters class. This is so out of my element.

It was a day in third grade and we were learning about history and things of that nature. My teacher was standing up in front of the class in her authoritative manner telling us about quotes and the famous people who had said them. I was paying close attention because she said they would be worth extra credit points on our test Friday. I raised my hand when she stopped talking and asked her what her favorite quote was. I ignored the whispers behind my desk calling me a suck up because they were right. I liked getting good grades and always tried to ask questions if I didn’t understand something.

The teacher nodded her head signaling I could ask my questions and I proceeded to ask her what her favorite quote was. She smiled, I think she was happy I cared to ask, and replied, “Knowledge is power.” I asked her who said it and that is when the confusion set in. She said, “France is bacon.” The class chuckled but no one seemed to think that was a weird response. At least no one said anything. It made me question myself so I paused and before I had a chance to ask her to explain she had moved to the next topic. Soon class was over and all the kids rushed out of the room in a hurry to get to lunch but I was still confused so I hung around to talk to her. I stood by her desk while she made notes in her big blue teachers notebook, how I loved that notebook and would have given my lunch money to see what she wrote in there. She raised her head and noticed I was standing there and asked me what I needed. Sheepishly, I said I couldn’t remember who she said had been the author of her favorite quotes and could she please tell me again. She smiled and again said, “France is bacon.” This time I knew I had heard her right and was too embarrassed to tell her I didn’t understand what that had to do with the quote so I just thanked her and went to lunch.

That evening over dinner my parents asked my brother and I to tell them one thing we had learned in school today. It was a family ritual at dinner. Usually, I was excited to share but tonight I was a little nervous. After a little prodding by my mother I finally said I had learned a new quote and proudly recited, “knowledge is power, France is bacon.” I half expected my brother to start making fun of me and was shocked when he nodded and said, with a mouth full of food, I remember learning that one. My parents also seemed proud that I had learned such a profound quote.

I still was confused but put it out of my mind until two days later when it was library day. Maybe the librarian could shed some light on the mystery of what France and bacon had to do with a quote. I walked up to the desk and confidently said, “could you point me in the direction of a book that talked about the quote, “knowledge is power by France is bacon.” The librarian looked at me and smiled but her eyebrows furrowed like she was confused. “You mean by Francis Bacon?” Embarrassed, I could feel myself turning red. I nodded and she pointed me to the right stack and said to look on the second shelf. Within a few minutes I had found a book of quotes and thumbed through the index until I found “knowledge is power by France Bacon.” I knew that France is bacon didn’t make any sense and I was relieved that everyone I had told had no idea how wrong I was. That would remain my secret and hopefully the librarians. I looked sideways at her. She winked and I felt good, my secret was safe with her.

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