Did you ever think you could be punished for drawing a sketch? Why is that even a question? Well this is a story of how I got in trouble for drawing a simple cartoon.
15 years ago I was in 5th grade just being a normal kid. I got good grades but didn’t do so well in History class, either because I don’t really care for it or I never had a good teacher. My teacher was a major Karen way before we even knew what a Karen was. She wasn’t just my History teacher but also an English teacher. In my school at 5th grade level and under a class had 2 teachers and they split the subjects. Everyone hated this teacher for many reasons, she admitted if you chewed gum in class and choked she would not do anything to help. That is the kind of person we are dealing with here.
As for me when in class I needed to stay busy or would drift off into my own thoughts I also drew little drawings a lot. I wasn’t really good at drawing but it didn’t stop me from doodling and keeping myself busy filling in the margins of my notebooks and folders. At this age I was also fond of MadLibs. I thought it was a genius idea that someone could write a story, pull out key words, then you could fill in the blanks with new words to read it back and have a good laugh. The male brain is very simple and doesn’t need much for entertainment.
What does drawing and MadLibs have to do with each other? I guess I was about to find out. I wanted to make my own version of MadLibs but simplify it down to a sentence for a quick laugh. My format… Verb my new noun. Try it yourself, it almost always works.
If I remember correctly I just finished a spelling test. It was some easy test that I finished with plenty of time while some of the class was still working on it. The policy was to turn your paper over to prevent cheaters from copying your answers. So what is a guy like me going to do while holding a pen, nothing to do but stare at a wall or better yet start drawing sketches on the blank paper in front of me.
I had repeatedly drawn this 1 character a bunch of times that I nicknamed “Buddy”. Buddy is a modified stick figure with a pill shaped body and appendages. His hands and feet are black tipped and he’s wearing a scottish hat and a speedo. Once I got my character drawn I started to think about my MadLibs and thought of “lick” and “sponge” making the now famous quote among my family “Lick my new Sponge”.
After Completing this masterpiece the teacher had seen me drawing on my test and had a rageful outburst. She claims to have told me before to not draw on my test. I believe that is a total lie, even though I wouldn’t let that stop me from doing it again I would still know if she made the request. I don’t see the big deal, I’m not disturbing anyone, I’m keeping to myself and being quiet. What more could a teacher ask for?
This genius of creativity landed me a trip to the Principal’s Office. This was my first time getting in trouble for something solely based on my actions. This time nobody else was getting in trouble with me so I felt very alone. I will never forget the tone the Principal used when reading my cartoon. With a very serious and questioning tone his first few words to me were “Lick My New Sponge?” after hearing someone verbally say my MadLib I was grinning on the inside but was too nervous to really acknowledge what just happened. Apparently my teacher took the cartoon as a threat. Like I’m gonna force you to lick my new sponge. She should’ve been happy. It didn’t say lick my dirty sponge. I simply explained I draw on the back of my papers when I’m done and the words were not a threat but a form of MadLibs Verb my new noun.
The Principal conceded with me how much of a pain my teacher was and her antics. I was then released back to class. After returning I felt like I gained a lot of street cred getting lightly teased that I was in trouble and they all wanted to know what happened. It was a funny experience on how ridiculous it all is, plus the fact I have made a career as an artist. “Lick my new Sponge” has always been a funny saying in my family since this incident and now it has been written in a story.