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Is That Tapatio or Blood?
The Lessons You Don’t Learn in Teacher School.
Yes, this was a real question I had to answer once. I just finished wrapping up my nineteenth year as a high school English teacher. Over the years, I’ve learned that no matter how well prepared you think you are for a teaching career, something will always be thrown at you that you weren’t expecting.
Some are funny, some are awkward, some are sad, and some are just downright heartbreaking. It didn’t matter how much time I spent in school to become a teacher. There were some lessons my professors failed to teach me.
In all fairness, no one could have expected that I would have to determine if a dark red stain on the back of one of my 12th-grade girls' white skinny jeans was Tapatio or blood, but it happened. Two giggly teenage girls summoned me outside, unsure of what to do when the stain was discovered. It then became my job to determine just what the stain was in a discreet manner.
I had to figure out how to make sure I could help my young student while eyeing her rear end but still making sure that everyone knew this was an innocent situation. I had to make sure I was still in front of the cameras so that the circumstances would not be misconstrued by anyone else.