Unsung Hero

"Unsung hero;" that is what she called me. I looked up the actual definition: "A person who makes a substantive yet unrecognized contribution". Sweet, you say?  Following is the rest of the story. You decide. 

During a conversation with someone who had not scored as well on the ACT as he had wished, I explained that some of the smartest people I know do not excel on standardized tests. Putting so much emphasis on test scores is one of the most frequent complaints we hear from educators as well as students. It seems there are so many other, more dependable, avenues available to determine someone's aptitude and potential for success.

This reliance on tests is not particularly new as in 1974, I took a test. It was called the Civil Service Test, given by the U.S. Government to determine who is cut out to do government work. Please do not think CIA or FBI, but rather jobs a bit more mundane. Mr. L and I were newlyweds, he was about to start law school in a town where we knew no one, and neither of us had jobs. I had a degree in history with an education minor (that's how they did it in those days) with an emphasis in secondary education (think middle and high school).  I did actually gain an interview with the school system, but did not get hired. There is no mystery as to why I was not hired. The interviewee, after attempts to put me at ease, said, "I have three questions I would like for you to answer," followed by his stating them. As soon as it was my turn to answer them, well, let's just say, I could not remember even one of them. Probably the only way I could have made a worse impression would have been to vomit on his shoes, which in the moment felt like a very real possibility.

The old adage, "we can live off love," neither pays rent nor buys food, so one of us needed to become gainfully employed. Since Mr. L was going to be in school, it was up to me; thus, I found myself in a big room taking a long Civil Service Test with lots of other employee wannabes.

In all my spatial deficiencies, I can really take standardized tests. I cannot figure out how to get from here to there twice in a row, but I am an ace at telling which box comes next in a sequence; a life skill that I only get to use when taking FB IQ tests. It just doesn't come up all that often in my day to day life. My score on the test was excellent. It was so stellar that I was offered an immediate position.

Friday night, I was telling this story in the car as we were driving home. With great enthusiasm I told the occupants of the car that I was offered an immediate and high paying position as an air traffic controller in Texas. "Oklahoma," Mr. L countered. "Ah, what's the difference?"

That is when she called me an unsung hero. "Think of all the lives you saved by not taking that job!"

Blessings