I was watching the 70's sitcom "What's Happening" with my family the other day and one of the characters, Dee, had a calculator. As soon as I saw it, I had a flashback. I owned this calculator when I was a kid. It's called the Little Professor. In fact, it was more than a calculator, it was a math quiz game. It gave you a random series of math problems that you had to figure out. Math and I have been enemies for as long as I can remember. We almost became friends in high-school because I had a great Algebra teacher named Mr. Jackson at Damien during my Freshman year. But, once I left his class, Math and I were at odds again. You know the old saying, "Six out of every five people are math illiterate". Well, that's me. I don't enjoy it. I have convulsions when my kids ask me math questions. I try...but I don't really enjoy it. I'll answer questions about history, English, and any other subject all day long. But, math? I can't stand it. I don't know why. I think I was abused as a child by a math problem. I think I had some traumatic math experience as a young kid that I have somehow blocked out of my memory...along with all comprehension of math altogether. Anyway...back to the calculator. Because of my issues with math, I can't say that this calculator was one of my favorite toys. But, it's funny the memories that came flooding back when I saw it. I had completely forgotten about the Little Professor until I saw Dee holding it. When I saw it, all of these fond childhood memories came flooding back. It was a good feeling, which surprised me because it was related to math. It's funny the things you remember about your childhood and the feelings that suddenly come flooding back when something triggers that memory. Even a math related toy like the Little Professor can bring back fond memories for me. Weird.
1 comments:
I can recall with perfect clarity the reason I HATE math! It was 4th grade at St. Philomenia's School in Torrance. Sister would have us run through the multiplication tables row by row. If you could answer it quickly you got to stay standing. If you missed it or didn't answer quick enough, you had to sit down. I was terrified of speaking up in class. My mind didn't think that fast and I ALWAYS had to sit down. To add insult to injury, the nuns would scold me in front of the other children saying I didn't do my homework or I was lazy.
Truthfully, I did do my multiplication tables every night with my Mom and I was NOT lazy. I just didn't get Math. If I had learned them to the tune of a song, I would have done better. Their hurtful words doomed me to an existence of hating Math and all Math related things.
It hurts to this day that a teacher would say something so cruel in front of my class and forever label me that way.
Be careful what you say to others, because they hurt and once said, you can not take them back.
*side note ~ I went on to become a successful and trustworthy bookkeeper as an adult, so there, Sister!
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