Idions Delight

Lesson 251: September 8th, 2007

Start with the idiom: I can't put my finger on it, but...

Use the idiomatic expression Head and shoulders above the rest in your conclusion.

I can't put my finger on it, but time and time again my mind goes over the events of September 8th, 1984. It marked the day that I started to break out of my self-protective shell and gain the confidence that I have today. I was a senior in high school, sitting in the bleachers silently watching while the pep club cheered the Huskies on to victory. It was the first home game of the season and spirits were high. Our boys took the field accompanied by the cheers and whistles of the hundred or so hometown supporters filling the stands. Groans, jeers and cat calls greeted our opponents, the Panthers, as they jogged to the center of the field. Like always, I didn't join in the revalry, to afraid that my voice would actually be heard and that I would no longer be lost in the crowd. I was the kid who didn't make the team freshman year, was always picked last for dodge ball in P.E. and seemed to be one clap off beat during all our pep rallies. I just wasn't cool. Some guys don't have a problem with that, but I did. I was painfully shy in those days, but badly wanted to fit in, always thinking that if they just gave me a chance, that I could be cool to. Not really believing it. I must just be a loser. My family was pretty poor then and if you didn't wear Levi's and Nike's in the early 80's, you were almost invisible.

Sevarl minutes before the end of this particular game, I scooted off the bleachers and headed out of the school grounds on my way home. I walked head down and shoulders hunched so as not to accidently catch the eye of any of the popular crowd. Our town is so small that I didn't have but a few blocks to go. Passing the elementary school, I decided to stop and swing for just a few minutes. I closed my eyes and for one instant I was an eight year old boy again, surrounded by all my third grade friends, in the days before the popularity games took over. Suddenly I heard the squeak of a second swing. My eyes snapped open. Becky Childers, student body secretary, sat smiling at me. "Hey Bobby. I saw you take off early from the game. How are you?"
"Okay," I replied, nervously scuffing up the gravel beneath my feet.
I glance up. Becky's still smiling. "Remember when we fell off your woodshed roof? I was in so much trouble for being up there", she says. "Walk me home?"

Thus began the school year that stands head and shoulders above the rest and began the acceptance of myself.