Whenever I hear the word 'busted' I remember being in the principal's office in year 4. For some reason (that I can't recall) I was in trouble, and this other kid Jeremy (although I forget his last name) was there with me (and I think maybe Troy Stockwell too, but I'm not sure, it was a very long time ago after all). We were in there, and we had to explain to the principal (I think his name was Mr Egon, but I'm not certain, I remember he was missing a few fingers that he'd lost in an accident) what had happened (whatever that was).
Jeremy said something about when we got 'busted', and the principal exploded:
DON'T YOU DARE USE THAT TERM! THAT'S A *CRIMINAL'S* TERM. DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK LIKE THAT!
It was pretty over the top (his reaction that is).
I remember to this day how impressed I was with Jeremy's reaction:
“I'm sorry Sir. That's when we got into trouble.”
He was so cool under pressure.
It was a very impressive effort for a 10 year old. He barely batted an eyelid.
I've witnessed many similar heroics from 'problem children' over the years.
If you don't think that you have to be brave to stand up to an angry man screaming at you, who is much larger than you, is red in the face, has veins popping out of his forehead and who has been given the authority to make you sit facing a wall every lunch time for the rest of your life or even make you *stay back after school*, then you're wrong.
He was very brave indeed.
Many weaker children would have started to cry.
I remember that I used to hate getting 'busted'. Although by the time I was finished with school, I think I could safely say that I was a professional at it. ;)
After all, I had learned a very important lesson in Year 4: You don't need to be intimidated by an angry person. They are the one who has the problem, not you.
In many ways, I always considered the children to be more mature than the adults. It was the kids who kept their heads in an enormously stressful environment. The teachers were just having a power trip and letting off some steam on an easy target, because they weren't getting any sex, or interest rates were rising, or something like that.
Damn teachers. They're all alike.