老師會下地獄？

小勇 is a fourth-grader with a sharp, tidy haircut. When he's in class with his fellow students, he's super quiet and gives off a reserved, shy vibe. If you ask him a question, he just stares at you without saying a word.

My first impression of him was that he might be a tough nut to crack—never responding to questions and kind of a head-scratcher.

Fast forward a month,

"Hello."
"What's up? Go ahead."

"I think the teacher is gonna end up in hell."
"WHAT !" When I heard this, my immediate reaction was probably something like (check out the expression in the picture below).

"Are you saying I'm headed to hell?" Even though I was taken aback, I still kept my cool and spoke gently to小勇 (didn't want to freak him out).

"Nah, not you. I mean our homeroom teacher."
"What's going on? Why do you think he's bound for hell?"

"He's gotta be going to hell."
"Did he do something to deserve that?"

"He piles on way too much homework."
"So, assigning too much homework equals hell? Does that mean I'm going to hell too?"

"Nah, not you. You didn't assign too much homework. It's all good; I can handle it and get it done.."小勇 tried to reassure me.

He's a sweet, eager-to-learn, good kid.

小勇是一位四年級的小男生，留著俐落的短髮。上課時不太愛說話，很安靜。給人的感覺很文靜、害羞內向。當你試圖向他提問時，他總是默默地凝視你，不發一言。

對於小勇，我的第一印象是，或許他並不好帶──不打招呼、不回答問題，確實令人頭痛。

傷腦筋

一個月後

小勇：「老師、老師。」

我：「什麼事情，請說。」

小勇：「我覺得老師會下地獄。」

我：「！」

聽到這句話我當時的表情可能是 (請看下圖)

Bobby Mc Leod on Unsplash

我：「你是說我會下地獄嗎？」雖然我很震驚，但我還是維持緩慢平和的語調和小勇說話。(不想要嚇到他)

小勇：「不是你啦。是我們安親班老師。」

我：「怎麼了？你怎麼覺得他會下地獄？」

小勇：「他一定會下地獄。」

我：「他做了什麼事情嗎？」

小勇：「他做了太多事情。」他有點生氣的說

我：「所以他做少一點事情就可以嗎？」

小勇：「對。可以叫他上班不要那麼認真嗎？」

我：「所以他到底做了什麼事情？」

小勇：「他功課派太多了！」

我愣了一下，有點不知道說什麼 (ㆆᴗㆆ)

我：「功課派太多就會下地獄，那我是不是也會下地獄？」

小勇：「老師，你不會啦。你功課還好。」他反過來安慰我

還好，我的小棉襖沒有漏風。是個溫柔好學的好男孩。