Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Yeah. Alot.



We interrupt this broadcast to take you live to the City Hall, where Peter Johnson, the Class Speaker for the fourth grade and the eldest son of the infamous Johnson's Zoo, is currently giving an interview. 

'So, Mr. Johnson, did you like the Children's Day sponsored by the Mayor of Heidelberg?'

'Yeah. Alot.'

'Thank you. Now over to Irmgard for the weather...'

What? Are you kidding me? Peter was elected Class Speaker at the beginning of the third grade, so after two years in the role, I kinda thought that he would have blossomed beyond 'Yeah. Alot.' And who conducts an interview with their hands in their pockets?

Next on the agenda was the city planning station, where the Class Speakers were each given a blank city district and some common components that they could use to build the city of the future.


Peter summed it up nicely over dinner as he was recapping the day.

'The adults wasted all the space with seven apartments, two supermarkets and three daycare centers!'

'And how did you design the city?'

'Oh, it was awesome. We had four soccer fields, two playgrounds, and an ice-cream shop.'

'Interesting. Was the Mayor part of this exercise?'

'No, he joined us after we test drove the garbage truck.'

'The what?'



The boys were interested in all of the gadgets that they cram into the dashboard of a garbage truck, but what REALLY impressed them was the big Bayer sticker just below all of the hickery-doo-bobs that indicated that the driver is really into aspirin. That, or he was a Bayer Leverkusen fan. I'm not sure. At least it wasn't Bayern Munich.

After picking up garbage, they got to ride in a street cleaner, a firetruck and a mobile book bus. Then Peter lost his mind and decided to spray paint graffiti all over the wall directly in front of the Mayor's office. Dr. Eckart Würzner even came out to give the troublemakers a piece of his mind.


Considering that the Mayor did not actually say much AND he had his hands in his pockets, I may have to reconsider the unsolicited advice I had given to Peter.

Apparently, the spray paint exercise was designed to teach the kids how difficult it was for the city to remove the graffiti, which was their task after destroying the pretty white wall. I won't ponder on the wisdom of city officials, but I will say that several of the kids interviewed stated that their best part of the day was spray painting the wall. Not cleaning it up. No, their thrill was definitely anchored in the defacement phase. Now I'm no Nostradamus, but I'm pretty sure that at least three street hoodies were born today.


All in all, it sounded like a really cool day. My only parting advice to Peter would be that the next time he decides to spray paint City Hall, he should probably leave his mask on until he's out of the Mayor's sight. 

--------------------------------------------
Ladder Talk: 
1) What was the best part of your day?
Peter: That I could speak with the Mayor and ask him stuff. 
David: That I found my new Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
Tom: That I could be the first one by 'what is in there?'.

2) What was the worst part of your day?
Peter: Was that Mom said that my writing is not pretty.
David: That I couldn't go to Yuki's.
Tom: That my thing is don't going.

3) What would you like to do tomorrow?
Peter: I want to play with my friends and my brothers. 
David: I want to go to Yuki's.
Tom: I want to go to Lauri's - when can I go to Lauri's?

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