Yesterday I took part in a kidnapping. Actually, I orchestrated the entire thing. It was my idea from the beginning. And I am proud of it. I KIDNAPPED A TWENTY-THREE YEAR OLD MAN!

It was his birthday, and he is a friend and coworker. It went like this. First, I invited him and his roomate to my home for what I called a "surprize birthday dinner". When he arrived, the surprize was that we put a laundry bag over his head and put him in a wheelbarrow to be wheeled around campus in hopes of disorienting him. Our plan was to make the destination a surprize, but we had to be creative since we are limited to a small area.

We took him through the elementary school building to further muddle his sense of direction. I was waiting outside with the camera and the get away wheelbarrow.

We accidentally happened upon a group of my students. Predictably, they were horrified. They asked me if the man was going to die.

No, I said, today is his Happy Birthday.

"Teacher," they pointed at the man with the sack on his head, "no is happy!" I was trying to explain that he was getting a birthday surprize but they couldn't fathom it. However, they were morbidly curious.

After more wheel-barrowing, we brought him to the final destination where the other 8 American teachers were waiting with the REAL surprize birthday dinner. That's him in the green t-shirt. He is smiling. Good sign.

Don't judge us. We are bored. We know not what we do.

ckb

Thursday, May. 15, 2003 at 12:26 PM