Wasps And Superintendents

Another glorious fall day – a good day for a drive to Chillicothe, topped off with taking Mom to Dari Maid for a chocolate malt. Yum-yum!

I had my annual eye exam today. And believe me, no one will ever call me a “cheap date”! Last September I got new, stylish glasses – Paula Deen frames. Today, I ordered new glasses again. Considering I have trifocals, plus a prism in one lens – they don't come cheap!! Just once I'd like a pair to last three or four years! Oh, well, it's worth it to be able to see clearly!

We were having lovely fall days like this my sophomore year of high school. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and all the windows upstairs in the study hall were to the top. My seat was near the back of the room. One day I was leaning forward on my desk to study, which caused a small gap on the back neck of my dress.

When I sat back, the wasp that had flown down the back of my dress panicked and started stinging. Now, I had a long history of being stung – often multiple times. But this time was different, because almost immediately after the sting, I felt very sick. I don't remember who was on duty in study hall, but I managed to get verbal approval to run to the bathroom. The bathroom trip wasn't necessary, but I still felt awful.....woozy and lightheaded. I went to the office and told them what happened.

Mr. Sugg was not a person to get excited. But for those of you in my age bracket, you will probably remember that his son Stephen was allergic to bee stings. In fact, he'd been stung that summer while putting up hay and had ended up in the hospital. So Mr. Sugg came to as near a panic as I ever saw. We still lived out on the farm, ten miles from town. Dad was working in Carrollton. Mom was at home, but with no phone and no transportation (and no driver's license).

Mr. Sugg loaded me up in his pickup, and we headed toward the farm.......by the most meandering route I think anyone could find! I'm sure in retrospect he was just keeping an eye on my symptoms, to see if he needed to take me to the hospital instead.

He talked to me the entire way home and just generally didn't seem to get in a hurry. But when we got to our house, he walked me from the pickup to the porch. And he stayed and talked to Mom awhile, instructing her on what symptoms she needed to watch for. He ended by telling Mom if she saw any of those symptoms, to get up the hill to the neighbors' immediately and give him a call, that he would come get me to the hospital.

As I look back on that, I wonder how many other superintendents would have done that. Maybe more than I think. But Mr. Sugg was one of a kind. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have known what symptoms to watch for after my allergic reaction. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't know how to do an about-face.......remember how he always had us to military drills when he subbed for P.E.? Right face, left face, about face!

If it weren't for Mr. Sugg, I would NEVER have attempted to take chemistry my senior year. Luckily, one other senior and I managed to talk our way out of it mid year! Mr. Sugg knew me pretty well, and I always felt like he liked me. In my senior year, I played softball. I hadn't played up until then, because I had no transportation for practice. But once we moved into town during my junior year, transportation was no longer an issue. When I asked Mr. Sugg if I could participate in P.E. class for just the first quarter so I was eligible to be on the softball team, his reaction was “Dorsey, why are you trying to play softball, you can't run!” He had a good laugh at my quick reply of, “I hit the ball far enough that I don't have to run”.

It was always easy for me to know when I went one step too far with him. Normally, he called me “Dorsey” - but if I did or said something that went over his line, I became “Edwards!”....Mom's last name when she had him as superintendent her senior year!!