In the last hour

The students were writing an essay about time.

"It flows. It never stops. It has nothing to do with a watch."

The young man in the corner was not at a loss for phrases or short thoughts. But, no follow through.

A 20 year old boxer with a perfect physique, a tight royal blue t-shirt and a watch chisled with fake diamonds, initially he seemed a combination of street wisdom and terror. He kept trying to impress with phrase after phrase.

Look down at his shoes and you find...patent leather blue, orange and white. A nursery school combination of colors, matching the t-shirt and the child's view of the world which lies inside the mountain that he had built to secure himself. Give a child 20 years to hide and he will build a mountain. But, he has few words, and finds it even harder to write than speak.

"It's been like a hour and I can't even finish this."

The truth is, he can't even start it. The task is simple enough. Read two relatively sensical passages about time and find some truth they both share and explain how they share it. I'm sure this is the kind of thing that seems second nature to his counter-part in the suburbs of NY. I've taught that kid, too. He wears a baseball cap, has a drinking problem and a car too old for his age. But, he has about an eighth grade reading level. Just enough to fake his way through it.
And his sneakers are worn, strong and durable. The car has the nursery school colors because it is his girlfriend who he expects to baby him. His parents have spent just enough time with him and the language in the house is just close enough for him to just get by enough on state exams.

We go through the passage for statements he can recognize. "Relate to." Kind of. We find something about not wearing a watch. He copies it and half explains it. Closer. If he can do that three times, I can make an argument that he might be close enough.

It's "like a hour" but really only 50 minutes and we have 90 on the state exam.