Right and/or wrong!

I do not exactly remember the year but I must have been in first grade. I could read. That’s something I remember for sure because I did not wait to get into first grade to start reading. I started reading much earlier from my brother’s books. He hated school and I could never understand why because I could not wait to start with school.

So I was in first grade and we would have these work books. They would have lessons and tests by the end of the lessons.

First grade is all about your behavior and social conduct. So the lessons would teach you what an appropriate behavior is and what’s inappropriate.

So tests would include questions like “When Ram comes home from school, he kicks off his shoes in the corner.” Is this behavior appropriate or inappropriate?

Of course each one of us knows even at that young age that it’s an inappropriate behavior. So the student would tick the check box which says “Inappropriate behavior” but would kick off the shoes when s/he would enter the house.

So they passed the test but did not learn the lesson. And I think I did because I remember every single checkbox which I struck as “Inappropriate behavior” and never once did those things ever since.

We all have that strong sense of right and wrong. No matter how much we cry out loud that appropriateness is subjective to the situation, we all know deep in our hearts that that’s not right!