I think being a developer and doing if-statements with logical operators on a daily basis saved me from being quite embarrassed and giving the wrong answer. Phew.
For me, it was just having a good 9th grade algebra teacher many, many moons ago. That's all, that's it.
Her name was Wilma Sunflower Flaig. She was a full blooded Indian, and built like a brick shit-house, to boot. She was tough, but fair. She loved me because, you know, I was really, really smart.
How tough was she? These were the days of corporeal punishment, when parents sided with the damn teacher in any dispute. I saw teachers take down kids and pin them to the ground, challenge some to fights, choke the living shit out of some.
Once, a girl said something like "Fuck you" to Mr. Pentimall. He started THROWING her down the long hallway to the Principal's office. With one throw, he threw her into me and I went down like a bowling pin. As he went by, inflamed but without breaking stride, he grabbed me by the back with one hand and deposited me upright, saying, "Sorry Dave" as he swept by, continuing to throw that girl further down the hall.
Nobody said anything like that to a teacher and got away with it.
And he was FAR from the toughest hard ass teacher in our school.
Well, in this school full of, well, "old school" teachers, it was Wilma Flaig's room that got the new desks, the only one.
All the other rooms had these decade old wooden desks that had been carved into numerous times. Hers were pristine and stayed that way! And she never came CLOSE to having to hit someone or even threaten to -- she ruled naturally through discipline and RESPECT.
On the very first day, she knew EVERY STUDENTS NAME in each class. She could also read your papers on your desk upside down. She was AWESOME.
I found out years later that she lived on a old, broken-down farm property THAT DIDN'T HAVE RUNNING WATER OR CENTRAL HEAT, alone.
Mine was in many ways an undistinguished, public school education, but it was a solid one, due to the good teachers I was privileged to have. :thumbsup: