Trickle Down Theory

One year as my brother John surveyed his classroom in preparation for the upcoming Valentine's Day party, he noticed that it's contents were the result of the Trickle Down Theory. All the essential necessaries going to the High School first, cast offs trickling down to the elementary schools.

Students busy with their art projects, construction hearts and tissue squares littering the floor, a child's raised hand caught his attention. "Mr. K. what did you do for Valentine's Day when you were a kid if you liked a girl?"

"I would put five Valentines in her mailbox on her desk;" began my brother "so that she would know I liked her more than any of the other boys in our class." Children stopped mid-paste, to hear this revelation from their teacher. "What would happen if you gave a girl five Valentines?" they wanted to know. "I would get to sit by her when it was time to watch the film strip on the day of our class party." John's words had everyone's attention. They didn't know what a film strip was. The story continued.

"When I was in Mrs. Lewiky's Fifth Grade class, I really like Sarah McClay; and I did what every boy did when he liked a girl, I wrote her name on the whitewall of my high tops for her to see. But I saw that two other boys in our class had her name on their sneakers, too. I had to find a way to let her to know I liked her the most. (Holly's Cute as Can Be pattern, found here.)

"The next time my Mom took me with her to the Mall, I bought Sarah a little gold heart necklace with my allowance money."

"Then instead of taking the bus home, I followed Sarah who was a Walker, to see which house was hers in the neighborhood right next to the school. When Saturday came I rode my bike to her house, and put the necklace in her mailbox. I waited on the recess ground of our school and peeked through the shrubs to make sure she found the necklace."

Arts and crafts completely forgotten, John's students wanted to know the end of the story. "I got to sit next to Sarah during the filmstrip!"

John surprised his students the day of their Valentine's Party by procuring from deep within the school's library stacks, a film strip reader and the very film he had watched so many years ago. One student was chosen to turn the wheel of the reader, another to feed the film. Lights dimmed, "Sit wherever you would like." John noticed the many Boy/Girl pairings as a result of the Trickle Down Theory.

My Valentine's on their way for Debby's, Cozy Blanket, swap.