What should have happened On the second day of ...

What should have happened

On the second day of third grade, we were assigned board work and I went to my teacher and explained, in a whisper that what was on the board was invisible to me. After some back and forth I was lectured about lying to get out of work and made to stand in the corner. At recess I had to remain inside and do the board work and I told her again that it was invisible. I was told to sit down until the class returned. When the class returned I was made to tell everyone what I told my teacher and she asked everyone in the class to raise their hands if they could see what was on the board and every single hand went up. Then she had everyone put their hands down and then told everyone in the class to raise their hand if they believed the writing on the board was invisible to me. Not one hand went up.

Almost 20 year later, I can't even tell recount the story without becoming emotional. I knew that I was different back then and I was shy and quiet. Other kids could see things I didn't see. I knew I was color blind and that was the reason that for everyone else red, green, orange and brown aren't just different words for the same color like ruby, crimson, scarlet, and cherry are. I had not made the connection yet that it also meant that some things become 'invisible' to me. I got accused of cheating for moving the wrong piece in games because they all looked the same.

The object lesson in never going to a teacher with a problem again because she'll make it part of the public record earned me the nickname invisi-freak.

I hated her for a long time. Abject hatred. But now I'm willing to cut her some slack. It was the beginning of the school year and it is far fetched that a kid would tell out of the blue tell you something was invisible to him. But shouldn't red flags gone off instead of jumping to the assumption that this kid is just lazy and lying?