Socrates and Ya gotta Listen
It is better to remain silent and let everyone think you are a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt
— Mark Twain
CASTROVILLE
Jerry, a happy bundle of unrestrained fifth-grade exuberance, half Japanese and half Samoan, made teachers and students alike laugh with little-intended effort. His mom had always supported his teacher in the few rare bouts of misbehavior Jerry dared to let surface. Most of the time Jerry doodled in his notebook and with little effort aced his tests, projects, and class work. Jerry listened with half an ear and when he tuned in he’d contribute his two cents worth. But sometimes there were consequences when one only paid “half attention.”
The current discussion revolved around Socrates and the poison, hemlock, he was required to drink. The teacher had noticed Jerry tune in and out as he filled his journal with abstract doodles.
“Oh, teacher, teacher, I know. I know.” Jerry whipped his hand in the air and shook it like an overactive water pump handle.
The teacher turned his head in Jerry’s direction, gave him a serious look and asked, “Jerry… what do you know?”
“About hemlock.”
“Would you like to enlighten the class?”
Jerry’s infectious smile grew. “Sure, hemlock isn’t it that, that …maneuver?”
A confused expression came over the teacher’s face, “Maneuver?”
Jerry proudly pulled himself up in his seat, “Yeah, you know when somebody chokes, you squeeze em’ from behind with that hemlock maneuver.”
Uh…Jerry very nice try. You need to concentrate better. I believe the manuever you’re talking about is called the HEIMLICk manuever.
Hemlock…Mr. Jerry is a poison. Fatal when humans take it. And that’s what Socrates did. He swallowed Hemlock.
