West Cocoa Chat

“Laugh and the world will laugh with you” someone once said. I have always been a big proponent of humor and laughing. In fact, this high need for “fun” has gotten me in trouble (hard to believe I’m sure) at times.

One of the reasons I became a teacher was due to the inspiration of my sixth grade teacher, Mr. McClam. He was the first teacher I had that was funny, inspiring, and he would play with us at recess. Something about this combination fired my soul and put the thought of teaching in my head. Yes, Mr. McClam was funny and I laughed at all of his jokes and apparently other things as well. I remember one day when apparently (another thing I know you’ll have a hard time believing) I was being a nuisance to my mentor with my love of humor. At one point Mr. McClam told me, “Cecil, if you laugh at another thing I say you’re in big trouble.”

Now, “big trouble” in 1970 had a different connotation than it does today. Today, when Mr. Walker tells one of his young charges that they’re in “big trouble” it certainly doesn’t involve a meeting with the “board of education” as it did in 1970. So, I tried to hold it in but I couldn’t and at some point soon thereafter, I laughed out loud at something Mr. McClam said that wasn’t meant to be humorous. Ah, but my mentor had a creative punishment to meet my crime. He took me out the back door of our classroom, which opened up to a large playground and had me stand next to a pine tree near our classroom.

In 1970 most schools in Florida were not air-conditioned. In fact, I didn’t come into contact with air-conditioning until my freshman year in high school. So, our windows were opened so all could see and hear what was about to befall me, young “Sky-Walker” or in this case, young “laughing-Walker.” You see, my punishment was to look at yon pine tree and to start laughing at it. In fact, Mr. McClam told me that if I stopped laughing I would meet the “board of education” “behind” the scenes so to speak.

So, I started laughing and kept it up for a while but then I started to get tired. As my laughing waned Mr. McClam appeared at the back door with the “BOE” in his hand. My laughing intensified. I probably wasn’t in the “how beautiful is a tree for it to laugh at me” mode for more than a half hour but it seemed like hours. When Mr. McClam gave me the “all clear” I was quite hoarse and cured of my laughing fits.

Nevertheless, I still enjoy a good laugh. After the ball game on Tuesday night, Barb, Steven, and I found ourselves around the dinner table, laughing. The game wasn’t anything to laugh about having been beaten 11 – 0 on our home field. Steven did pitch the last 2 innings giving up no runs and one hit. Yet we were laughing, belly laughs as Steven relayed some encounters he had with one of his friend’s Grandfather who happened to be a good friend of my father and knew me as a child growing up in Cocoa.

It seems that even today’s school environment with all of the high stakes testing tends to rob us of this precious commodity, to laugh and have fun.

“Church” unfortunately can be this way as well but then on the other hand some of the best and funniest times I’ve had are a result of relationships I have with those that share a common faith in the Lord. You know, I have to believe that laughter and fun had to surround Jesus as he performed his first (John 2) miracle.
May your weekend be filled with laughter.