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when i was a high school senior, there was a kid in my grade who wouldn't run the mile. everyone was required to run a timed mile to pass gym, and he wouldn't do it. the thing was, if he didn't pass gym, he wouldn't graduate. it was already spring.

it wasn't like he couldn't run a mile -- he was a football player, athletic. huge popular kid, boisterous, with a warm smile and a swarm of friends, who gave people nicknames. you know the kind of guy. for that matter, one could walk the mile if one wanted, you just had to do four laps at any pace. it didn't matter to him. he didn't say so, but it was a pride thing. it was demeaning. he was right, we all knew it and admired him for it, but like. he wasn't going to graduate over this.

this standoff went on for weeks. the principal was not going to allow it. this kid didn't come from a family where everybody graduated high school, and the principal wasn't going to let this kid be denied a diploma over something this stupid. but he was up against -- if i was informed correctly -- a state law. you had to run the mile to pass gym, and you had to pass gym to graduate.

the principal, who is a man i knew well, and still know, and admire, didn't make an exception for this kid. he also didn't force the kid or threaten him or even try to reason with him and wear him down. instead, he made the following deal.

"you and me," he said, "are going to run the mile together. we're gonna do it after school, so nobody is there but us, and your friends, if you want. and i will wear the stupidest, goofiest, ugliest tracksuit i can find, so nobody will be looking at you, they'll be looking at me. tell your friends to take pictures." and that is what they did. the track suit was cyan and magenta and yellow and purple and our principal looked like a goofy dumbass. the kid graduated a few months later.

i work with kids now and i think about this all the time, and why what the principal did worked. he could have cracked down. he could have said rules are rules. he could have said, ok that's your choice. he could have even had the idea, and dismissed it because of some notion about not undermining his own authority. but he didn't. he identified exactly what the actual problem was -- why won't this kid do this thing he clearly must do? because it hurts his pride. and instead of insisting, as so many adults do, that pride is a luxury that young people neither deserve nor can afford, he said ok. how can i fix that. and by making it seem, in a fun and harmless way, like the kid was humiliating him, he made the difference between the kid having a high school diploma and not. sometimes that's all it takes.

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Hey, Weary Scroller,

I know. I know, lovely, I do. I'm right there, too.

So come sit with me a spell. We'll bundle in the fluffiest blankets with your hot drink of choice - I have coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and cider all lined up, but I'm happy to make anything else you would like.

We can talk, or just sit - sometimes the quiet is nice, just knowing someone is with you.

We're going to make it through the night, friend. Even when the night seems days long.

We're going to make it.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001, dir. Peter Jackson

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It’s all good fun, until somebody loses an aaAAARRrrgghh!

Hey, I have a Patreon

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Damn, how bad could I possibly be 💀 jk jk 😂

Thanks for letting me join, Kali. This was fun 🫶💕

I won't tag anyone specific, but if you see this and want to join, please do!

Consider yourself tagged if you are reading this:

Make this picrew of yourself

Take this uquiz (How Fandom Would See You If You Were A Fictional Character)

Thank you for the tag @machiavellli !

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me as a writer

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"Doctor, you may begin the process"

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As someone that has grown up surrounded by beaches and done surf life saving, I know how the sea works. Lots of people dont. Every summer multiple tourists die here because they don’t respect the sea, if you’re going to the coast, here’s a thing I saw on Facebook.

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It is really disturbing how people can lose their humanity and threaten you just because you *checks notes* sentenced their child to death :'(

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Okay okay we all know Johnny cash did his cover of Hurt and we were all like “ok he owns that now” but I watched the music video he made and I’m like “oh he OWNS it owns it”

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something interesting is happening