Come ye thankful people come

I went to the same school from kindergarten to grade 6 in dear olde Hackensack. The day before Thanksgiving, every year, the 6th grade choir would march from classroom to classroom in choir robes and sing "Come ye thankful people come". Nothing being more sentimental than a fourth grader during a holiday period, I remember having moist eyes as I would hear the choir sing that song. As a sixth grader I got to wear a robe myself.

At that age I swallowed up elementary school traditions lock stock an barrel. It was a big event in my life, one that would repeat seven times through my childhood. When I was in high school I would tell you how school was meaningless and a symptom of an over regimented society but as a kid I was a true believer.

By fifth grade I knew the cynical version of the song. "Come ye thankful people come, blow the school to kingdom come, first the teachers, then the ... I forget the rest. Even school kids had their non believers.

Editor's note: Lock stock and barrel is a cliche, best avoided in writing.