Reputations? Yea I had one.....

                   Well Good Morning. Is it that time again? It must be. I am so glad that I live right behind a Waffle House. Their coffee is so good and strong. Thats what I need this morning, good, strong coffee.I notice it has been raining all night and at this time, before the dawn the air is particularly sweet with a cool, gentle breeze that reminds me of those mornings when mom would have to drag us out of bed. I remember one morning in particular. We didn't have air conditioning, I think it wasn't invented yet. But the window fan more than  made up for it.The whoosh as the blades turned and the cool night air kept my brother and me asleep while the alarm clock clanged on the night stand between our twin beds. That morning though I had plenty of reason for not wanting to get up. You see I had to walk to school ,which was a great priviledge for a first grader, and part of that walk was down a path through some woods that ended by the football field and my classroom. Well for the past two days a couple of tough kids met me on the way and robbed me of my ten cents I had for my lunch. I was not only embarrassed but I came home hungry too. I remember my mom, being the religious person she is, let us watch  " The Cross and the Switchblade" the night before. It was about a pastor that was converting  knife wielding gang members. Well all I saw was guys I knew wouldn't get the treatment I was getting and it looked kinda cool to me. I didn't know what cool was then but I knew I liked it. After finally getting myself out of bed and sitting at the breakfast table, the answer came to me. I had a little pocket knife stuffed away inside a tackle box dad had bought me.Oh it wasn't big. It's blade was maybe a half inch long but in my mind it was as big as any sword. Carefully I tucked the knife into my pants pocket so mom wouldn't notice. Getting my homework together and taking a deep breath I headed out the door towards what I knew was to come. I remember walking a little slower that morning, not being in any particular hurry but not wanting to be late either. There it was. The path. The way I had to go.I did not want to go that way. But how could I not? After weighing all my options, this didn't take long since I had none, I inched my way down the path. Coming around the turn, just as I thought, there they were. I remember reaching into my pocket and withdrawing the knife. Taking a deep breath and remembering those guys from the movie I yelled  " Whichever of you two want my money is gonna get cut"  and I held that knife out before them. They decided I wasn't worth it and they ran back towards the school. So relieved was I that I had to just stand there a minute to take in what had just happened. "That wasn't so bad" I thought and I began walking to school. I didn't notice the kids looking in my direction when I reached school. You see I went to a school that was 1st grade all the way thru the 12th . When I got to my classroom the teacher told me I was wanted down at the office and directed me down the hall. Arriving at the principals office, I was led into a little office and was asked where the butcher knife was. I told the man what had happened and gave him my little knife but all that mattered was that I brought a knife to school. He called my mom, of course, and she came and took me home for the day.I didn't get in trouble at school but I wished I had . Mom was worse than any school could be when we were in trouble. Another spanking, but at least those two kids wasn't going to get my money again. The next day when I got to school all the kids had an opinion about me. They thought I was the toughest little kid there or I was just totally crazy. Either way nobody wanted to find out. That one single day marked the way people saw me all through school. Who knew? The tough kids saw me as one of their own and the rest of the kids were afraid or weren't allowed to hang out with me.The funny thing is that I never had to fight much to prove it either way. Oh there were a couple of times but my reputation gave me an edge and the fight ended as almost as fast as it started. I should mention also that we were usually friends again after a couple of days. Nobody really held any grudges. Is that the sun I am seeing? I guess it is. Time sure flies when you have good coffee!!! Guess its time to begin a new day. Wonder what neat things are in store? Think I'll get one more cup of coffee and see what it brings............