The slice
THE SLICE
This is the time of year when older siblings try to strike fear into the hearts of younger brothers and sisters.
It’s an annual rite of passage. Giddy about the looming end of the school year, the younger kids make the mistake of appearing to be happy and carefree. This tends to annoy older siblings.
That’s why you are apt to hear a grizzled fifth grader put the future in stark perspective for a wide-eyed fourth grader. “Laugh now. Next year you might have Mrs. Nelson. She’ll wipe that smile off your face.”
Solemn allusion to challenging next-grade subject matter is another favorite tactic of killjoy brothers and sisters.
“Algebra,” the hardened veteran will whisper to the callow youth, as if recalling some unholy slaughter of innocents.
It’s something to think about over the summer.
Paul Turner