The School of Hard Knocks is always in session

It constantly amazes me that I can still find good, hard-working God Bless Americans who are willing to go out of their way to teach me lessons I thought I’d never have the opportunity to learn.

These kind-hearted people, which I’ll refer to as Life Teachers, are actually few and far between, but once you find one, you’ll never forget them. Here are four I’d like to share with you:

I met my first Life Teacher when I was in third grade. I was walking home from school, and he was a bully. He usually had a tag-team partner, but this time he was by himself. Well, I had had enough, so I threw him into a fence – which really impressed him. It impressed him so much that he warned me his partner was lying in wait for me on the next street, but he’d fight on my side, and not his.

Lesson No. 1 – Evil tag-team partners never switch sides. It’s all a show for the audience. Life usually turns out okay in the end, but the hero is going to get bloodied no matter what.

I met my second Life Teacher while I was a senior in high school. She was a flute player and I was the drum major. She had just moved to Texas from South Carolina to live with her mother, and she was full of life. Always laughing. Always smiling. We hit it off quite well and soon became an “item” – that is until her boyfriend from back home came for a visit.

Lesson No. 2 – Starlets are not always what they appear to be. The makeup, the fancy clothes, the smiles and laughter are just another part of “showbiz.” Life usually turns out okay in the end, but the leading man has to go through a lot of heartache before he finds his leading lady.

I met my third Life Teacher while I was in college studying music. I never actually saw this gentleman face to face, but he saw me. He saw me as I got out of my truck, placed my trombone in the camper on the back, and walked away without locking the door. By the time I had realized he had stolen my instrument, he had already hocked it in a nearby town.

Lesson No. 3 – For every Superman there is a Lex Luther. Sometimes these “arch villains” are bold and extravagant in their evil ways, but most of them hide in the shadows waiting for you to make a mistake. Life usually turns out okay in the end, but the Super Hero has to keep his eyes open for kryptonite.

I met my fourth Life Teacher while I was in the military. He was a lieutenant colonel who made our lives miserable. One day he was supportive of everything we did, the next day he was kicking trashcans and saying we weren’t worth the suffering our mothers went through to give us birth. As soon as I could, I volunteered to go overseas and never saw him again.

Lesson No. 4 – There are good bosses and bad bosses. The good bosses make all the other ones look incompetent, and the bad bosses make all the other ones look like geniuses. Life usually turns out okay in the end, but you’ll always breathe easier working for a Fezziwig than you ever will for a Scrooge.

Yes, friends and neighbors, there are still people out there whose sole purpose in life is to teach us lessons we’ll never forget. Be thankful for them, because they make everybody else look like saints.