New shoes

Upon sitting down for a lesson, I got a comment from a chatty female 4th grader today.

"Mr. B -- you got new shoes," she exclaimed, pointing at my feet. "They look like Ronald's. From McDonald's."

"Are you saying I have clown shoes, Tashicah?" I ask, in mock horror. "Yeah, Ronald McDonald." The thing is she didn't realize that could be taken as an insult. She just thought that they were shaped like clown shoes. No slight intended.

"Yeah," agreed Jesse, a bona fide crack baby. "Yeah, they look like Army man shoes. Like Ronald McDonald Army man shoes."

So I guess that I'm some kind of clown soldier to these kids: a dangerous killer with a silly streak. Funny thing is that they're right! Except for the "killer" part. If they only knew the real story.