In sixth grade, I had an experience I'll never forget.
Miss Pratt (who looked like her name suggests and was my most memorable teacher and who would NEVER be allowed in today's educational system) asked us a question.
"Who discovered the Pacific ocean?"
The first student on whom she called was Sandy, who happened to be sitting in the leftmo…
In sixth grade, I had an experience I'll never forget.
Miss Pratt (who looked like her name suggests and was my most memorable teacher and who would NEVER be allowed in today's educational system) asked us a question.
"Who discovered the Pacific ocean?"
The first student on whom she called was Sandy, who happened to be sitting in the leftmost front-row seat of the class.
Everyone accepted Sandy as one of, if not THE brightest student in the class.
Sandy stood up and replied, "Magellan."
I couldn't believe my ears. Sandy was wrong!
Miss Pratt told her to sit down and asked the student behind her the same question.
Doug had no clue who discovered the Pacific Ocean. Doug was the class clown. His old man was rich and ran one of the largest businesses in town. School was a waste of time as far as Doug was concerned.
A couple of weeks earlier, while cutting up in class, Miss Pratt sidled up to his desk and slapped him so hard in the head he fell out of his desk and onto the floor. (Lest you worry, she stunted him for life, Doug grew up to own one of the largest transport operations in the South...leading one to believe one CAN slap some sense into another.)
But I digress...
Doug figured he'd play it cool and respond just like Sandy. So, he said, "Magellan."
"Sit down, Doug." (We always stood up in class to answer Miss Pratt's questions.)
Well, the next student, who, also, had no clue who discovered the Pacific Ocean, figured she'd play it safe and go with “Magellan.”
That's how it went down that first row...Magellan, Magellan, Magellan.
Now, I was in row 4, about 1/3 the way down from the front.
I was on the horns of a dilemma.
With each “Magellan,” I could feel the pressure building.
Should I go along with the “crowd," or should I give the correct answer?
I'm telling you, the pressure was palpable!
Then it was my turn.
I was sweating. As I would discover much later during one of my "experiments" with LSD, I also experienced my first out-of-body event.
I stood up, mumbled, "Balboa," and sat down as fast as possible.
By then, I suspect, Miss Pratt was having her own out-of-body experience. She didn't hear me.
She continued to the last student in the last row.
The final tally was Magellan - 27, Balboa - 1.
Miss Pratt then announced the correct answer...”Balboa.”
This happened in 1957. I can pretty much assure you Miss Pratt was not a Tavistock-trained Satanist. (She helped me learn Latin when I became an altar boy.)
Reading the Larouch article, though, I can imagine what it must have been like as a test subject.
In sixth grade, I had an experience I'll never forget.
Miss Pratt (who looked like her name suggests and was my most memorable teacher and who would NEVER be allowed in today's educational system) asked us a question.
"Who discovered the Pacific ocean?"
The first student on whom she called was Sandy, who happened to be sitting in the leftmost front-row seat of the class.
Everyone accepted Sandy as one of, if not THE brightest student in the class.
Sandy stood up and replied, "Magellan."
I couldn't believe my ears. Sandy was wrong!
Miss Pratt told her to sit down and asked the student behind her the same question.
Doug had no clue who discovered the Pacific Ocean. Doug was the class clown. His old man was rich and ran one of the largest businesses in town. School was a waste of time as far as Doug was concerned.
A couple of weeks earlier, while cutting up in class, Miss Pratt sidled up to his desk and slapped him so hard in the head he fell out of his desk and onto the floor. (Lest you worry, she stunted him for life, Doug grew up to own one of the largest transport operations in the South...leading one to believe one CAN slap some sense into another.)
But I digress...
Doug figured he'd play it cool and respond just like Sandy. So, he said, "Magellan."
"Sit down, Doug." (We always stood up in class to answer Miss Pratt's questions.)
Well, the next student, who, also, had no clue who discovered the Pacific Ocean, figured she'd play it safe and go with “Magellan.”
That's how it went down that first row...Magellan, Magellan, Magellan.
Now, I was in row 4, about 1/3 the way down from the front.
I was on the horns of a dilemma.
With each “Magellan,” I could feel the pressure building.
Should I go along with the “crowd," or should I give the correct answer?
I'm telling you, the pressure was palpable!
Then it was my turn.
I was sweating. As I would discover much later during one of my "experiments" with LSD, I also experienced my first out-of-body event.
I stood up, mumbled, "Balboa," and sat down as fast as possible.
By then, I suspect, Miss Pratt was having her own out-of-body experience. She didn't hear me.
She continued to the last student in the last row.
The final tally was Magellan - 27, Balboa - 1.
Miss Pratt then announced the correct answer...”Balboa.”
This happened in 1957. I can pretty much assure you Miss Pratt was not a Tavistock-trained Satanist. (She helped me learn Latin when I became an altar boy.)
Reading the Larouch article, though, I can imagine what it must have been like as a test subject.