Deciding to clean up truant children is a
fraught business for any Principal and going into houses and shaking the tree is not always well
received.
This I know because I arrived at the house
of 4 children who often chose to stay home instead of coming to school- and
they had been warned, if they were not at school, I was a-coming..!!!!
I arrived at the house around morning tea
and when I knocked on the door, the Mum appeared at the glass ranch slider a
split seconds after the slobbering, rather muscular mongrel dog. The Mum was a little, life ravished woman and
she took the dog, who was nearly 1/2 her size, by the collar and invited me in,
whilst wrestling the salivating, sharp toothed dog into submission.
The house had been stripped of any
recognisable items that make it a house.
The kitchen was almost non-existent and next to the ranch slider was a
couch covered in an exceedingly large pile of laundry, pointed of course, at an
almost obligatory large flat screen TV.
The mother wrestled the dog away and things
were quiet for about 20 seconds after she had taken the dog down the hallway
and I can only suspect she whispered in the dogs ear ‘go get ‘em!!’ because the
dog appeared at full run in the doorway and across the room…….. and into
me.
The first bite was on my forearm as it
jumped up, the next a bit higher up my arm.
As I rolled away from it, the third bite was on my not insubstantial
butt. The upside was that I was wearing
jeans and also (in a very 70’s bikie gang style- whilst passing myself off as a
school Principal?????) a long style jean jacket. The dog bit my butt through about 5 layers of
denim, which led to no piercing, just bruising.
(oh, how lucky!!!????)
During the first bite, screech and fend,
the couch covered with laundry erupted and a man appeared from beneath all that
was covering him! He was hairy and
unkempt and although I didn’t have time to think of it at the time, I wonder if
the family knew he was there!??? He
didn’t help me. He just starred in a
startled, woken up kind of way, while to dog enjoyed my obviously more tempting
bits.
The dog was coming back for another go when
the mother finally got hold of it. She
twisted the collar and the dog became less interested in me and more interested
in oxygen!?? In the respite, I took the moment to make
for the door and slammed the ranch slider behind me. I fought every urge that I had to sprint for
my car but in true South Auckland staunch, I walked (whilst rubbing my butt
obviously!!!) to my car. In defiance I
slammed my own car door AND I was the only one to hear that slam, but doG it made me
feel better! And a little more defiant and in control!! Hear
that? Large bite-y dog! Ha!
I drove back to school and sat in my
office, quietly shaking. It was quite
an interesting reaction because it actually scared the be-Jesus out of
me!! I shook quietly. No one noticed. That is my style.
The irony was that the kids arrived at
school about 20 minutes later. Not a
word said by the mother.
AND……. they had no lunch so I gave them mine!!
AND… this is the worst part…. the tetanus
shot REALLY hurt!
Would I do it again? Hell yes!
Now, in preparation for chasing down truants, I wear leathers to school
and carry a Taser!
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