Kristin G., while standing in front of my fifth-grade class, opened up a box filled with cotton and pulled out a Christmas ornament. This is my family s Christmas pickle ornament, she said. It s really old, and it s an ancient German tradition to hide it on the Christmas tree. If you find it first, you get good luck. This year, it s my year to hide it. Advertisement
I remember this innocuous little anecdote 20 years later because, at the exact moment she said hide it, the ornament slipped out of her hand, hit the desk and exploded into a million pieces. There was a moment of perfect silence, and then Jesse S. burst into uncontrollable laughter. Mrs. Fridman screamed JESSE! and dragged him by the arm out of the room while Kristin stood rigid in shock.