HALLWAY WAR
What is that commotion just outside my classroom door? Two girls are circling one another, steaming with anger, hurling insults. One towers over the other – she’s famous for picking fights on campus. The other one is a scrapper. A feisty little thing. The big girl is determined to manipulate her into starting a fight and getting suspended. Impulsively I step out into their arena and begin to plead with them both to stop. Their ferocity is palpable.
Someone calls for an administrator as a crowd gathers around us. Meanwhile, for what seems like an eternity, I maneuver between them to keep them separated. Somehow they seem unable to touch me or push me aside – it’s as though I am encased in an invisible bubble. The smaller one is actually trying to listen to me; she makes eye contact but the taunts of her enemy finally win out. She loses control and strikes out at her just as help arrives.
Afterwards, I wonder what on earth possessed me to thrust myself between all that anger. Crusader Rabbit complex? No, more like a moment of well intentioned stupidity. I was not hired to referee fights, at least not physically. Not my job. I take a deep breath and tell myself, “Never again”.