Fun Education Fact of the Day

I was watching Inside the Actor's Studio and Colin Firth was being interviewed. He mentioned that he had been living in Missouri for middle school. The interviewer asked if the American kids thought he was "exotic" (Mr. Firth is British). He looked sad and said, "No, more like a freak."

Mr. Darcy was sitting in some 7th grade class in 1972 and the kids there thought he was a freak? Speaking for all 7th grade girls at that time, I say no.

He went back to England for high school.

Comments

Jet City mom said…
I bet he didn't get his height till high school.

He's had an interesting life- not only did he live in St Louis, Mo., but his parents were born & raised in India & he spent early childhood in Nigeria.

( & I remember a boy from England attending my jr high around the same time period- he wasn't half as attractive as I daresay Colin Firth was at the same age & we all thought he was plenty exotic.)
wsnorth said…
I think "exotic" is about as bizarre as "freak". He's from England, not the moon.
hschinske said…
Apparently he was only 11, which is a year young for 7th grade (most kids are 12 turning 13 during the year). He was probably "that skinny little kid who talks funny."

Helen Schinske
Jet City mom said…
To an 11yr old- " sexy" isn't in their vocabulary yet, but "exotic" fits the bill & means " from another place/part of the world", nothing negative about it, while "freak" means "deformed".

I bet someone whose parents are from India, and who speaks with an accent was pretty exotic to the 1970's midwest.
dj said…
I would assume that he is trying to be relatable, as is required for all actoors and models, it seems (as you would assume based on self-representation in interviews that all were unattractive and unpopular in middle school).
Chris S. said…
5th grade, first boy that ever caught my eye - TOTALLY enthralling British accent. I don't think he got famous though.
Jet City mom said…
I think most 11 yr olds ( I was also a young 7th grader) are so painfully awkward that they feel like freaks-. I expect even a boy who was " a greek god from jr high all the way through high school ( & then whom I didn't even recognize at the reunion), felt pretty self conscious at that age.

::::::::::::::::shudder:::::::::::::::
You couldn't pay me to go back there.
Anonymous said…
I don't know where to post this, so I'm posting here..
Yesterday, we receive a letter from my son's bus driver saying that there would be some routes changes and that, starting tomorrow, the bus would be ridng 10 minutes earlier, which would be 7.41AM for us..That is really early for a pre-K student (my son goes to South Shore, wich, by the way, we really LOVE!).. And they arrive 30 minutes before starting time, wich seems really long to me for young kids to hang out.
But what bothers me the most, is that we didn't have any say in this matter..I thought that there were holding community meetings at the moment to adress parent's concerns and at the same time, they unilateraly implement those changes ???
Am-I wrong to be concerned and annoyed by this?? Can we do something about it?

HillmanCity Mom
Hillman Mom,

First thing, send an e-mail to the Board (schoolboard@seattleschools.org). Let them know your concerns. They cannot do anything for you in particular but they can ask about unannounced scheduling changes.

It is kind of weird to have them there 30 minutes before school. Most schools don't like longer time periods as they become responsible for the kids at a certain point. What does your school/PTSA have to say about it? Has any info from them been sent home?

Call Tom Bishop in Transportation. He's nice and would probably give you an answer as to why it changed but not why you had no input.

Most important, go TONIGHT to the Community Meeting On Transportation STandards at Chief Sealth High. It's from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Mr. Bishop will be there and you can ask your question in front of other parents. You might be surprised at how many others might have gotten such a notice. Strength in numbers.

Good luck.
Maureen said…
Hillman City Mom, your bus change is totally independent of what they are planning for next year (that's what the meeting are about.) Bus routes do change during the year sometimes because certain kids stop or start taking the bus or because they are trying to improve service in some other way.

Tom Bishop (tabishop@eattleschools.org) is in charge of Transportation, but he's probably pretty busy until the Board votes on the new Transportation Service Standards (2/16).

About getting there 30 minutes early, that is one of the problems with a PreK-8th grade school. The Middle Schoolers have a longer day, but they all ride the same bus so the little ones have to get there earlier than they would with a K-5.

Maybe the office at South Shore could look up which other kids are riding your kid's bus and see if yours could go to a different stop and get on later. Or maybe there is another South Shore bus that goes near your house at a later time. Tom Bishop's office would have that info too.

It looks like South Shore will be starting at 9 or 9:10 next year, so maybe your bus will come later then.
Anonymous said…
Alright, I'll see with my school what they have to say and will keep my fingers crossed for next year then..
Thanks ladies for your inputs!

HillmanCity Mom

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