“Come on in,” he said in neighborly tone, which told Mr. and Mrs. Stevens that Carson must be in more trouble than they had initially thought. “Have a seat.”
Mrs. Stevens sat down in one of the children’s desks while her husband, sporting a belly twice the size of the rest of him, sat on top of the desk nearest to her. She chuckled a bit, knowing that if he had sat down in the desk, he’d never be able to get back up.
“Now that I have both of you here, we can get right to the matter at hand,” said Mr. Connors as he loosened his tie a bit.
“I do apologize for our busy schedules,” Mrs. Stevens replied as politely as possible. “When you have two working parents, it’s hard to coordinate a time to meet that works best for everyone.”
Mr. Stevens cast her a look as if to say, “There’s no need to apologize.” He then looked at his son’s third-grade teacher directly in the eye and asked, “What is this all about Mr. Connors? Why are we here? From the look of Carson’s report card, he’s doing quite well.”
Mr. Connors sat up in his chair and folded his hands gently on his desk. He shuffled a few papers around and smiled as if he were thinking of what to say next. “Carson’s grades aren’t really the issue,” he said.
“Then what is the issue?” Mr. Stevens asked as he glanced impatiently at his watch, then at the clock on the wall.
“Honey, let Mr. Connors explain. I’m sure that there’s a good enough reason as to why we are here.” She looked over at Mr. Connors and motioned for him to continue.
“Thank you, Mrs. Stevens.” He sighed for a moment. “These kinds of situations are never easy. I don’t think any parent, or parents for that matter, enjoy hearing that their child is disruptive in class.”
“Disruptive?” asked Mr. Stevens. “Carson?”
“He’s...well...Carson hasn’t exactly been himself ever since he returned from spring break. And I wondered if maybe there was something going on at home?”
Mrs. Stevens exchanged a confused glance with her husband. “Something going on at home?”
“You know, arguing, trouble with your marriage or something of that nature.”
Mr. Stevens let out a hearty laugh, “The only trouble we have is finding something to argue about. Just what are you getting at Mr. Connors?”
“Honey,” Mrs. Stevens said. “I’m sure this is just a routine question. Am I right Mr. Connors?”
“Yes indeed. When children start acting out in school, it’s a clear indication that something is going on in their home environment.”
“Our home environment is just fine,” said Mr. Stevens. “In fact, we recycle on a regular basis.” He grinned and winked at his wife, who rolled her eyes.
“Recycle?” Mr. Connors asked.
“He’s just trying to be a comedian,” said Mrs. Stevens. “By environment, he means taking care of the planet. We’ve gone ‘green’ recently and have implemented some environmentally-friendly living practices at home.”
“I see,” said Mr. Connors. “And when did this ‘green’ living start exactly?”
Mrs. Stevens looked at her husband, “After the conference. Right Mark?”
“That’s right.”
“Conference?” Mr. Connors asked.
“I work for high-tech company downtown. They decided to hold a global warming seminar and interactive conference for its employees and families. It was very eye-opening to say the least.”
“That was about a month ago, when Carson was on spring break,” explained Mrs. Stevens. “There were all these workshops for kids to do and he really enjoyed learning about the different ways to help the environment.”
“As you can see Mr. Connors, we take our ‘home environment’ very seriously,” added Mr. Stevens.
“Well, that makes perfect sense,” said Mr. Connors.
“It does, doesn’t it,” said Mrs. Stevens. “The environment is a serious issue.”
“No,” said Mr. Connors. “I mean it makes perfect sense as to why Carson has been acting out.”
“I don’t quite follow you Mr. Connors,” said Mr. Stevens. He ran his left hand through his hair and repositioned himself on the desk, careful to keep it from tilting over.
“I think that what’s been going on with Carson is largely connected to the conference on global warming you are referring to,” Mr. Connors explained.
“How so?” asked Mrs. Stevens. “The conference was educational, fun and good for Carson. He’s been so inspired. He’ll run around the house turning off the lights, go up and down the street collecting cans and bottles and he even turns off the water when he’s brushing his teeth. This morning he suggested that we buy a hybrid!”
“I can appreciate all of that Mrs. Stevens. But it seems that Carson’s enthusiasm has gotten a bit out of hand. Do either of you know who the Green Gobbler is?”
“The Green Gobbler?” Mr. Stevens asked. His face relaxed and a smile formed on his lips. “Of course we do. That’s Carson’s new favorite superhero. He’s a regular guy who works at garbage dump during the day and transforms into a superhero at night, fighting to save the environment. He teaches people how to recycle and go ‘green,’ and fights criminals who want to destroy the earth.”
“He watched a cartoon movie about it at the conference,” added Mrs. Stevens excitedly. “Did you know that there’s even a comic book about the Green Gobbler? It’s a great way to get young kids interested in the environment.”
Mr. Connors nodded and held up the very comic Mrs. Stevens was referring to, which he had been saving at his desk. “I think that learning about the environment is great, he said. “But I also think that the Green Gobbler has gone to Carson’s head.”
“He’s been wearing the costume, hasn’t he?” asked Mrs. Stevens in a concerned tone.
“Yes,” said Mr. Carson. “He changes into it every day at recess.”
“But every kid Carson’s age likes to pretend that they are superheroes,” said Mr. Stevens.
“Pretending is one thing,” said Mr. Connors. “But I think Carson is taking it one step too far.”
“In what way?”
“I think that Carson actually thinks he is the Green Gobbler.”
***
Out on the playground, Carson Stevens climbed up the jungle gym, flipped over a bar and hung upside down. His green cape flapped happily in the wind.
It had been a productive day in his quest to save the planet. Just that morning he had decided to convince his parents to trade in the family van and buy a hybrid. He counted in his head how many plastic bottles and soda cans he had collected from the cafeteria garbage cans. He smiled when he thought of how he had made signs about ways to conserve energy and taped them all over the school halls. And he laughed triumphantly when he thought of how he had stopped a fellow third-grader from throwing out a plastic sandwich bag during lunch and told him to reuse it.
“Don’t abuse, reuse!” he called out with a raised fist.
Tonight, after he finished his homework, he planned on writing a letter to the principal of the school about installing solar panels to the roof. There was so much to do and so little time to do it.
A younger boy, maybe five or so, wandered by. He was dragging a wagon close behind him. Carson watched as he stopped right below the jungle gym.
“What are you doing?” the boy asked.
“Saving the environment,” Carson replied. “Want to help?”
“Sure,” said the boy. “What do I have to do?”
“I’ll show you,” said Carson. He turned himself upright and climbed to the top of the jungle gym. With a clear blue sky behind him, he jumped into the air and sailed to the ground.