9/24/21 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: Mr. “Algebra” Thornton firing up his 8th graders on a Monday morning

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family:

The Sad but True Story of the Freshman and the Blind Lady

Once upon a time there was a young, idealistic freshman at Ohio State. He had graduated from a very good Catholic high school and was in his first weeks of college life. He was studying to be a teacher of all things, an instructor of youth, although at the time he was not much more than a young lad himself.

One day, while reading the bulletin boards in Arps Hall (he was early for his class as all young, idealistic freshmen are) our young hero spied a young lady, a few years older than a freshman, clearly having some difficulties as she seemed uncertain of where to go. In a moment of brilliant perception he noticed, thanks to a long white cane with a red tip, that the lady was blind!

Seeing, no pun intended, that this lady could use a knight in shining armor, our young idealistic hero quickly rose to the occasion and asked the lady if he could be of any assistance. The lady quickly responded that she had a class in Brown Hall and was having some trouble adjusting herself as to how to get there. The young boy told the lady that he would be more than happy to escort her back to her class. The lady smiled and off they went.

Now you must certainly agree that what our hero did was a very charitable act, the young boy thought so too. The problem, however, was the he was so filled with sanctimonious pride in himself and his noble deed that he forgot that he was only a freshman at Ohio State and had no idea whatsoever where Brown Hall was!

 It took no time at all for our young hero and the blind lady to become frightfully lost. If ever the phrase, “the blind leading the blind” had occasion to be uttered, now was certainly the moment. The boy was terribly embarrassed, so embarrassed that he was afraid to tell the blind lady that Brown Hall was nowhere to be found. Finally, after a long, silent walk the lady sensed that something was amiss.

“You don’t know where we are, do you? You nerd!”

“I’m sure it’s around here somewhere,” the boy replied, shocked that a blind person would get angry.”

“Just tell me what building we’re in front of and I’ll tell you which way to go.”

The young, dejected hero read the name of the building directly in front of them and the proceeded to go on their way, guided by the lady’s careful instructions. At last, they arrived at Brown Hall.

“Which door are we at?” The blind lady was growing impatient. 

“Huh?” Our hero was very gifted in quick responses.

“Are we at the north door, the south entrance or what?”

Now our young hero was in a pickle. His mother had driven him to Ohio State, it was a cloudy day, or so he told himself, and he couldn’t even begin to guess which door they were facing. Undaunted by these minor obstacles the young boy blurted out, “west!”

“Fine,” the blind lady said. “Now I know which way to turn when I get to my floor.”

Of course, as you might have guessed, west was not the correct response to the lady’s question and they turned left when they should have turned right and they turned right when they should have turned left. We got to the third floor ok but then wandered around for at least another 20 minutes trying to find her classroom. By the time we got to the correct door, students were streaming out of the room which she was trying to enter. She had missed the whole class!

Nothing is known further about the lady. It is hoped that she found better and wiser people to assist her in her times of need. The young man became a teacher and then a principal and has been feeling very badly about this dark day for many years. He relies heavily on his phone now for directions and he tries never to give answers to questions for which he hasn’t a clue!

Jim Silcott