LOOK WHO'S WATCHING

I often carried my lunch to work when I was a school teacher. I hated being a slave to whatever might be offered in the cafeteria. Occasionally, when in a hurry, I would pack dinner left-overs in my lunch bag and head out the door.

One day, as the students settled in their desks for home room, I went through my morning ritual. I took the lunch out of my book bag. This time I had hastily packed the left-overs in a plastic grocery sack. I took the reusable containers and set them in my desk and began to shred the bag with my scissors and throw the pieces in the trash.

I noticed the students, who had been chattering while settling into their morning routine, were now quiet. I soon realized all eyes were on me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You," one of the girls replied. "We were watching to see what you would do with that plastic bag."

A few weeks before, I taught a social studies unit on human effects on the environment. We discussed things we could do as individuals to be good stewards of the environment. I showed them photographs I'd collected of animal victims of trash that hadn't been properly disposed of. I suggested that if a student couldn't recycle rings from packages of aluminum cans, they should carefully cut each ring, so an animal couldn't become trapped. I suggested the same with plastic grocery sacks, especially the handles.

When the students saw me bring a plastic bag from home, they quietly watched to see if I would throw it in the trash, immediately making me a hypocrite in their eyes.

"You really practiced what you preached," the student said. "You're all right."

It was a simple statement, but something that was profound. I like to think that I fade into the woodwork like a wallflower, but I am watched more often than I suspect.

We all are.

Let's try to practice what we preach.