In first grade, I was in one of those multi-grade classes with the second graders. Of course this only created a dynamic that had the younger first graders catering to the older, mature, worldly second graders. Obviously.
We wanted to please these girls so badly. I remember each of them adopted one of us, like a daughter or a little in a sorority. And we always did what they told us was cool, basically anything they wanted. Like we'd race or let them braid our hair. In return, we were shielded from all the negativity of the playground by their general friendliness, albeit exploitation.
Through these older girls, we immediately believed what was hot and what was not. This explains the mental clusterfuck that resulted when someone declared it was Opposite Day.
Now Opposite Day is a bully's best friend. It messes with a child psychological and physically. You're punched in the arm? Oh ho, ho it's Opposite Day! I'm honestly hugging you! No. You begin to question all the extremes of actions. Telling a girl "I hate you" is done with a smile, because it's funny and acceptable on O Day of all days. It's just that there is obviously some truth in it.
So you have to play along because being yourself means you really do hate that person or are really hitting that person. You're not a good sport because you can't hang by your knees upside down and are standing right side up. You clearly must hang upside down on a normal basis. Then to make up for it, you make Katrina cry at the two-square court, because you emphatically tell her you hate her because she's one of the best friends you have!
I felt bad about that. I apologized later, but, mentally, I was debating whether this meant I was telling her I wasn't sorry.
So goes Opposite Day, but, as I remember thinking, if it is Opposite Day, then is it really Opposite Day? If it were, then it's not, right?
