Four Eyes: The Petition
A coming of age anecdotal story of "advocacy."
When you were growing up, did you feel a type of way about glasses or braces? Because I definitely did. I thought glasses were the absolute coolest, so when my mom took me for my first eye doctor appointment, I was thrilled. I was 8 or 9, and when the doctor told me I needed glasses for seeing far, it felt like a personal victory. YES. A new fashion accessory.
I remember trying them on and wanting to take them home immediately. My mom explained that they needed to “fix” them first. The doctor, witnessing this interaction, which was likely a temper tantrum in the making, asked me if the glasses made me see better. I emphatically said yes. He then calmly informed me that there was no prescription in them yet, so there was no way they were helping me see anything. I was duped.
Fast forward three years. I was in grade five and now had two pairs of glasses. Very exciting stuff. There was the pair I wore more often, and then the “less cool” pair. One day, I misplaced the cool pair (ahem, ADHD) and was stuck with the backup pair. My teacher knew I needed glasses to see the whiteboard and called me out on not wearing them. I don’t remember the specifics of the conversation, but I remember the feeling: embarrassment. While she probably meant well, I did not experience it that way. She then shared a personal story, again, in front of the class, trying to relate to me. I had tears in my eyes, which only added to the embarrassment and shame.
I was not going to let her get away with this.
With a few classmates- some of whom also had “issues” with her teaching style (her teaching style was fine; we were just trying to assert control)- I somehow convinced them to help me create a petition to get her fired. What could go wrong?
We wrote the petition after school and started gathering signatures. One friend, initially on board, suddenly grew a conscience and backed out. At that moment, I felt deeply betrayed. Luckily, others were much more supportive of this absolutely terrible idea. Once we collected enough signatures, we marched the petition to the principal, feeling very proud of ourselves.
That pride lasted until our plan immediately backfired. The principal (obviously) did not consider this a credible complaint and chastised us for essentially bullying the teacher. She did not get fired– shockingly.
The next few weeks at school were… awkward. Eventually, we all moved on to the next thing, as fifth graders do. I went on to wear my glasses full time until I eventually switched to contact lenses.
And the “advocacy” spark that led to the petition? Oh, that stayed with me. Until a few years ago, that advocacy was loud and rough around the edges. But that’s a story for another time.