Skip to main content

One day in the 7th grade in class as our teacher didn’t show up we were left with a free period. Tavassoli who was in charge during such times urged us to work on the assignment we would have had. I zipped through it and then hoping to get out of class and asked him, “What do we do if we are done with our class assignment?”

“Just study until the bell rings,” he responded.

Of course I had no such intentions. With us being in the midst of Tehran’s provisional soccer season, I ripped out a page from my notebook and began drawing a bunch of blue clad players sitting on the ground nodding their heads. At a podium I drew my best impression of Naser Hejazi, the Esteghlal goalkeeper. Using speech bubbles I had him saying “Getting our asses kicked on the field is not right (sahih nist)!” The nodding teammates all responded, “It’s absolutely right (sahih ast).” I was quite pleased with my play on words and after showing my drawing to a neutral party, Bijan (who supported Homa), I also showed it to Eslami, a hardcore Esteghlali. It did not sit quite well with him and he ripped the paper out of my hand. As I struggled to get it back a melee ensued and with Tavassoli intervening and ultimately taking the paper away from both of us we took our seats. I was hoping that nothing more would come of it but I when I was called into the office during recess I knew Tavassoli must have reported it.

“What is with you?” Mr. Jalaei wanted to know. “Why are you always involved in some kind of chaos?”

“I didn’t do anything. Eslami took my piece of paper and I was trying to get it back.”

I hoped he wouldn’t ask what was on the paper. He did. I explained it was a drawing.

“So you just draw pictures in class? Who said you could do that?”

“I was done with my assignment. I asked Tavassoli what to do and he said do whatever you want.”

“I’m gonna call Tavassoli in here right now and if he tells me otherwise you’re expelled.”

I called his bluff hoping that Tavassoli would only remember the gist of what he had said. “Go ahead. You’ll see that that’s what he said.”

Mr. Jalaei called Tavassoli over the loudspeakers and moments later he was in the office. “What did you tell him after he said he was done with his assignment?”

“I told him to study,” Tavassoli responded.

“Do you have his drawing?”

“I do,” Tavassoli said as he reached into his pocket. Mr. Jalaei unfolded it and looked at it. I noticed he actually cracked a barely visible smile after reading over it. He dismissed Tavassoli, raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

“That’s not what he said. He’s remembering it wrong,” I protested. Mr. Jalaei didn’t expel me but let me know I was on thin ice.

At the end of the day I was once again called into the office. Mr. Jalaei wanted to talk to me in what turned out to be a surprising adult conversation. He first apologized for the way he treated me in the morning and said his anger got the better of him. He then explained that while soccer is a healthy hobby that I shouldn’t get so involved in the rivalries and trash talking to hurt my friends and that I should keep my soccer support of teams at a moderate level. He concluded with, “So I take it you are Perspolisi?” and smiled at me. I took it that he was too.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Michailovic pushed his glasses back and sighed.   “The following numbers are being released. ”The numbers came spitting out of Michailovic’s mouth, resembling in more ways than one a madman with a machine gun in a massacre.   Hardly anyone showed any reaction, making it impossible to tell whether they were shot or not.   The notable exceptions were a couple of smiles breaking out here and there as some numbers were being skipped.   As the list carried on, Callahan realized that before long it would be zooming in at an alarming rate on his proximity. Callahan had no idea who those ahead of him were, but he could see that none of them were making the cut.   He considered it good, after all the more gone before him, the higher his chances were.   He looked up at Michailovic, almost trying to read his lips before the words were spat out. “116.” Callahan looked around, trying to identify the holder of this number.   However, no one was responding. “117.” C...
Hi everyone. There will be a WE8/PES4 tournament held at May 25th by the Rang a Rang Channel Management. This tournament will be held in the USA and in Northern Virginia area which is where I live. I am friends with Khosro for those of you who watch that channel would know him, the host of that show, and it is official. As of right now I know about 25 people on top of my head who are 100% joining the tournament. I wanted to see if there are any members here who live in Virginia/Maryland and are interested to join. Here are some info: The tournament will 95% be held on 25th and will take place the whole day. - 100% the final game and 90% the 2nd round games will be broadcasted live on the Rang a Rang Channel, so everyone of you Wining 11 fans can watch this thing live. - There is a $50 fee to be part of this tournament. - The games will be 10 min long each, and will be played on PS2 only. - The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will definitely get awards, as of right now i...
“Did I tell you about this new restaurant idea that I have?” Kurt was tempted to say yes just so he wouldn’t have to hear it, but he figured it couldn’t be any worse than the current conversation topic.   He shook his head no and gestured to Thomas to lay it upon him. “Well, it’s a restaurant I’ve been thinking about opening.   I’m not sure what kind of food it’s gonna serve yet, but the main attraction won’t be the food.   Basically it’s a normal restaurant with an average everyday menu, but the thing is once you are done with the meal you can break your dishes.”   Kurt’s long stare and puzzled look told Thomas that he was expecting to hear more.   “That’s it.” “You know Thomas,” Kurt started, “I’ve heard a lot of weird ideas from you, but if I were to list all of your ideas in order of weirdness this would rank pretty high up there.   Definitely a number one contender.” “No, really it’s not that bad.   It’s unique.   People can come in...