Monday, July 12, 2010

On Twinkies and Stupidity

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm stewing over something that happened a while back.

First a preface. My sons both have severe food allergies and are on a glueten-free and dairy-free diet. That means they can't have anything that contains wheat, barley, oats or dairy.

My oldest son was in a sixth-grade advanced English class last year, and one of the teacher's class projects was that the students would make homemade snack cakes. It was part of some lesson on history. No problem, except that the students were then supposed to eat the snack cakes. Well, the teacher was at least smart enough to realize that my son would not be able to eat the treats.

What does she do in this situation? Does she call or email us to let us know like all their other teachers do? If she had, we could've sent in something for him to eat with his class. Even letting us know the night before is okay, we're used to it.

Not this teacher. This teacher-of-the-smart-kids took things into her own hands. Knowing that my son couldn't eat the wheat- and dairy-based food made in class, and in an attempt to go the extra mile...she bought him a box of Little Debbie Snack Cakes. Sigh. So not only could he not partake of the special class treat, but her attempt to give him something special just fell on him as a double whammy. And he had to smile and thank her for a DIFFERENT snack that he can't eat.

How did he handle it? He brought the box of cakes home and told my wife that he wanted to give them to me for Father's Day. Because he didn't want them to go to waste. Sniff sniff. He's a trooper.

Now reading: I just finished Astro City: Dark Ages.