a lesson...

I work in a job with constant education, I kind of love it and feel pretty lucky that teaching and learning is part of my everyday. Sometimes we have teaching sessions where we create mock situations or use each other to demonstrate how to perform certain activities, like lion-taming or boxing, for example :)

So the other day I got to work and ran head first into a teaching session. I was running late though and the only seat available was right next to the teacher. I was wearing an "i love teach" t-shirt and had a gift apple with me, so it was all very seemly.

Until I realised the session was about how to examine a knee. While a knee is not as personal as some other parts of our bodies it is most definitely not a joint I wish to flaunt or, indeed, have examined with twenty of my colleagues looking on.

Naturally teach could not see past my t-shirt and was so enamoured with the apple that my attempts to squirm away did not register. My knee was examined. In. Front. Of. Everyone. And I was wearing new jeans that I had not entirely convinced myself covered my entire butt appropriately.

The session was taking forever. I was so aware of The Knee, which was exposed in all its glory and had taken on a life and personality all of its own. The Knee was clearly unrefined, class-less and dare I say, rather unattractive. I am ashamed to say I shunned The Knee, like a geeky neighbourhood friend you only play with out of school.

To be fair, I was also quite concerned how much of The Butt was covered with denim. But, it was mostly The Knee. And it was clear to everyone The Knee belonged to me. It began to feel like my life was trickling by and I would forever be in this session having my damn knee examined with my butt hanging out and my colleagues looking on and, no doubt, thinking this was a terrible state of affairs.

I couldn't even make eye contact with anyone in the room. I knew I'd see scorn of The Knee. I knew they'd judge The Knee. And you know, that poor knee needed someone to love it. What did The Knee ever do to deserve this? The Knee needed a body that was proud of it. Even the uglist knee needs love. And who the heck was I to not oblige. The Knee actually did alot for me. It deserved my love and gratitude.

The class ended. I gave The Knee a rub, told it what a good job it had done and stood proudly with it, ready to bear the taunts and ridicule. Me and The Knee. The Knee and Me. We made quite a pair. We could conquer the world together.

Teach was chatting away, telling us that we would be unlikely to examine many young, fit knees like this one. This One? This Knee? Young? Fit? Well, rhhhheaallyy, I scanned the crowd and thought "you bunch of judgy judgers, this is a young fit knee, and you were all poo-pooing it, shame on you".


And, so you see, a moral is discovered on LandSoftly.

Hope you're all well out there.
R xx