I get one every other week or so,
some kid who wants to be cool
and thinks a pack of cigarettes is going to help.

And apparently they think I'm stupid,
because most of them are kids
that I went to school with...
I know how old they are,
that they're still in high school
and certainly not eighteen.

I happen to think that smoking
is an extremely stupid habit,
so I don't play along.
I ask for an I.D.

Again, they seem to think I'm stupid -
they don't bother to think beyond
my current gas-station existence
and remember that I was salutatorian
and got a full ride to college,
that I must, in fact, have brains somewhere.
Their I.D.'s are inevitably
at home or lost
or they must have forgotten it somewhere.
And they expect me to fall for that.

So I put the cigarettes back on the rack
and they try to plead with me to believe them.
Of course I refuse.

As they start to leave, sullen,
I throw out a parting shot:
"And how is Mr. Cheeseman's class this year?"
They answer before realizing its a trap;
Mr. Cheeseman teaches 10th grade English.

They rarely come back to try again.
I shake my head to myself and think
"And they think I'm the fool?"

05/29/2003

Posted on 05/29/2003
Copyright © 2025 Amanda J Cobb