At primary school, we all had that teacher we loved. Every boy had what he thought was the love of his life. I mean what did we expect? Our female age mates tended to be awkward girls with running noses who would flee at any hint of love. They spent so much time running away I am convinced even up to this day they are still running away from men who profess love for them. Nowadays, when I see a well educated professional woman who is not married and has no child I am reminded of those girls who used to take to their heels when we appeared on the scene at primary school.
Sullen and childless, today they ought to know that had they not fled at primary school they would be married with a bunch of smiling, happy little kids. Because they ran away, we fell in love with our teachers. Falling in love with the teacher did not end at primary school. If anything, it intensified at secondary school. There, we genuinely believed that on one fine day, we would get married to our teachers. The reason why many scruffy school boys kept themselves clean and wore clean uniforms was to keep alive the dream of getting married to their teacher.
This is basic psychology. It teaches us that as human beings we always aspire to associate with those who appear better than us. The entire better and merrier if they are of an opposite gender. In order to draw their attentions, we in turn must improve our appearance so that one day our little fairy tales can come true. So we had young female teachers who dismissed us as silly little boys with hormones that didn’t know where they were going when we thought they saw us as potential husbands. I am sure there were also young girls who melted at the sight of a male teacher. Wherever they are, they too must be thinking about what happened to him. This brings me to my point. Every young boy has the right to dream about the love of his life. He should choose which of his teachers he wants to marry the day he grows up. For the same reason every teenager has the right to choose whom of all the bevy of beautiful women he sees in lifestyle magazines he one day will marry and go to a country where they will live happily ever after.
Our best and most enduring romances are formed at primary school. When you love your teacher there is no betrayal because you found her with somebody else. You also feel good because you have never cheated on her. Your earnest wish is that one day as soon as you are grown up you will be able to extricate her from the arms of that devil. Even when to your shock she comes pregnant to class one day, you swallow your salty tears and vow that as soon as you start working you will adopt the child as your own and live with the mother happily ever after. That is what love does to young people. Sometimes I ponder if it was not a mistake to let female teachers take classes full of young boys.
I mean even up to this day I still wonder who got married to the teacher I loved so much all those years ago. I ask myself how many kids she has. Are they still together? And if they are not, does she still think of me? I think I am crazy because in terms of my female teachers at primary school I still have an interest in their personal lives and want to know what they are up to. I particularly like it when I am told they are still single and the bloke who was supposed to marry them decided on a different girl. This gives me a lot of satisfaction. I don’t like it when I hear they have kids. Obviously having children means they are into something serious. A single kid is okay. But three kids means there is somebody lurking around. When I am told they were married but got divorced I stand up and celebrate. To me this means they are seeking solace and are busy wondering what happened to that young boy who used to sit at the front of the class and ogle them all day long. It also opens the prospect that we might meet and get married some day. This is so bad that sometimes I am left asking whether it would not be a good idea to go back to segregated schools where boys were taught by men and girls were taught by nuns. There is nothing worse and devastating for a young boy than to see their beloved female teacher in love with a male teacher. It causes life long problems and psychological trauma. That is why some men who can’t handle the loss are so violent and are the cause of so many wars in the world. I am not the only former school boy still grappling with the problems of my affection for my teacher. There are a lot more.
Something must be done about it. Out where they are the teachers, now entering old age and wanting to be loved remember that after so many kids and divorces the only person who ever loved her was that boy at school. In their minds they think the boy is happily married somewhere and won’t even spare them a second glance. How mistaken they are! If only they knew that many of the boys they taught still toss and turn at night thinking about them. I still toss and turn thinking about my teacher.
Many of my friends also toss and turn thinking about their teachers. All of us have a teacher whom we love. Very few of us know what happened to them. I have decided I cannot live this way. I want my teacher. To my teacher I say wherever you are please I miss you. I know you are old. I know you have three kids or more. I know you are either divorced or frustrated because things did not work out. I am waiting for you my dear teacher!
