Everyone knows teachers in this country are not paid what they are worth. Some are paid more than they’re worth, and some are paid less.

We had the same problem when I was in school. In those days we tried to mitigate the low salary received by teachers with favors designed to help them cope. Many of our teachers were older ladies who were not married, so the neighbors or the school board or somebody would help them put up the storm windows, or give them a cord of firewood to help supplement their salary.

The old tradition of bringing the teacher an apple was founded on the same principle. Some say this also helped prevent scurvy in those areas where wild fruit was not normally plentiful.

One of the most exciting extra rewards for teachers at my school was the “fruit roll.” The fruit roll was kind of like a surprise party, but instead of bringing presents everyone brought some fruit.
Each kid would bring an orange or an apple or something for the teacher, and when the signal was given everyone would roll their fruit up the aisle toward the front of the room. Then the teacher would have all of this fruit to take home.

I admit this tradition may have been short-lived. I have never talked with anyone who remembers a fruit roll, and I can recall only one such event during all of my years in school. (There’s a good chance that was the last one ever held.)

It was Mrs. Hardy’s (not her real name) fourth-grade, and all the kids had packed some extra fruit in their lunches. Most of us had no idea what a fruit roll was all about, but we figured the organizers knew what they were doing.

Just before the signal was given to roll the fruit, I could see we had a problem. We’ll call him Eddie – and he was surely different. In those days we didn’t have programs for kids who would benefit from special attention, but everyone knew Eddie needed extra consideration.

Eddie brought a banana for the fruit roll, and his seat was clear in the back of the room. You don’t have to be a produce manager to know that bananas don’t roll well.

The fruit roll was over as suddenly as it began. All at once there were apples, oranges, plums, you name it, rolling down the aisles and bouncing off the baseboards in the front of the room. There was a lot of bruise damage.

Eddie threw his banana halfway up the aisle, and another kid tossed it the rest of the way. Mrs. Hardy became very emotional. I think she was trying to decide whether to thank the class or send the whole bunch to the office.

Readers with questions or comments for Roger Pond may write to him in care of this publication.