Remember those Scholastic book order forms from elementary school?

Do kids still get those in school?

Are there still books in school?

In case you’re unfamiliar with the Scholastic book order form, I’ll explain it.

Early in the school year, elementary students were given this little catalog of books.

We ordered the books we wanted, paid money to the teacher – and forgot all about Scholastic books.

Because it took FOREVER for the books to arrive.

Remember?

Illiterate 1st graders ordered with confidence that they would learn how to read before the books arrived.

Anyway, that Scholastic book catalog taught me one of the most important lessons of my life.

I’m not kidding.

I was sitting in Mrs. Chadinski’s 4th grade classroom, casually perusing the book catalog.

Mrs “C” was explaining the ordering process to the class.

Suddenly, I noticed this book on the page in front of me:

Oh. My. Gosh!

My grandmother had that exact book!

I’d seen it many times on a shelf in the den!

Now, I’m seeing that book in the Scholastic catalog!

This is a miracle!

My hand shot into the air and I made a face at Mrs. “C” that communicated urgency.

She glanced at me and asked, “Do you have a question, John?”

I said, breathlessly, “My grandma has this book at her house! It’s on a shelf! I’ve seen it!”

Mrs. Chadinsky’s reply has echoed inside my head for decades.

She said, “Great, John. But I’m pretty sure everyone else in the room couldn’t care less.”

That’s how you teach an unforgettable lesson!

Blunt-force truth.

She was right.

Nobody cared that I’d seen that book somewhere else.

Mrs. Chadinsky’s statement was a beautifully succinct lesson in empathy.

Make no mistake – The lesson was embarrassing.

But it has enabled me to avoid thousands of similarly humiliating moments.

I think about other people’s point of view.

I don’t tell the cashier at the store that my gall bladder is acting up.

During company meetings, I don’t mention that I need to buy a birthday card for my uncle.

And I don’t tell the bride and groom the reason I’m not dancing at their reception is I twisted my ankle mowing the yard because the moles have dug tunnels all over the place and I’ve tried to get rid of them with traps but they seem to know how to avoid those so I put poisoned worms in the openings which killed a few of them but I’m worried that the cat will find the dead moles and eat them and get sick and the kids love that cat and it would break their hearts if he died even though he’s pretty old and his back leg is arthritic so he can’t jump anymore but he’s part of the family and it’s hard to decide when it’s the right time to put him down since he doesn’t seem to be suffering and his fur is healthy and shiny probably because we switched brands of cat food a few years ago so even though the new brand is more expensive we think it’s worth it because it cleared up his mange and seems to have reduced the number of hair balls which is great since our new sofa isn’t stain-proof because it was a display model at the furniture store so it had some blemishes but it perfectly matched the decor in the living room so we bought it with a 30-day same as cash deal that was only available to members which wasn’t a problem because we’ve been members for many years since my grandfather payed for our membership as part of a Christmas gift back when the railroad offered employees a discount if they didn’t smoke and my grandfather had given up smoking when he was in the Navy because…

Thank you, Mrs. “C”.

That’s all I’m going to say.