Talking Back? Really? It's Called Answering Your Question!

I can think of a few times when my “smart” mouth got me in trouble. I am not known as someone who creates much trouble or disobeys (much), but I do have tendency to talk back to my parents (mostly my dad) and maybe, once in a while, to a teacher. I don’t really look at it as talking back but more like being honest and answering their question. I am sure I’m not the only one who thinks this way. Do parents actually ask these questions to get answers? It seems that sometimes when we answer it’s never the answer they want.

            One of the incidents that got me in trouble (more like just a scolding) was when I talked back to my 8^th grade science teacher. I also didn’t help that some of my classmates were encouraging to go on.

            That day our teacher wasn’t really teaching. He was just telling one of his many uninteresting stories. I decided to put my head down. In no way was I going to take a nap. I merely wanted to put my head down. I guess the teacher thought I was taking a nap and called me up on it. He then asked me, and I remember this very clearly: “Is there anything hanged on the wall that says you can sleep in the classroom?” That’s when I “smartly” answered back, “There is nothing that says I can’t.” In my defense he asked a very specific question that asked if there was anything “hanged on the wall” and there really wasn’t. So you see, I was just stating a fact. This was followed by my classmates yelling out, “Treated!” Needless to say it didn’t lessen the trouble that I was in.

            I really didn’t mind getting in trouble because I know that at some level I wasn’t really “talking back” and some will probably agree. I also didn’t mind, well, because I didn’t really like the teacher. I can sincerely say that I did not learn any science-y stuff in 8^th grade and that was the reason why “napping” became the cause of most of the trouble I got in.