Slam!
By Diana R. Jenkins
“This box looks okay!” I called.
Mom waded across the flood that a burst pipe had unleashed in our basement. “Thank goodness! These are my high school mementos.”
“What’s this?” I held up a notebook.
“I hate to admit it, Matthew, but that’s a slam book.” She opened it and explained. “We used to put someone’s name on the top of a page like this. Then we passed the book around, and everybody wrote opinions about the person.”
“Brian was popular.” I read aloud some of the comments. “‘Great athlete’... ‘Nice guy’.... I flipped a page. “Whoa! Nobody liked Debbie.”
“Actually Debbie was very nice,” said Mom. “Well, let’s get back to work. Would you take this box to the garage?”
I took Mom’s mementos upstairs then came back to help clear out the rest of the basement. While I worked, I thought about the slam book. Wouldn’t it be fun to do something like that?
That night I got this great idea to add a slam book to my web page. I set up an area called “Slam!” Then I posted the question, “What do you think of Joe?” People’s responses would appear below the question. It was like a high-tech slam book!
At school the next day, I told my friends to check out my web page for something new and exciting.
“Yeah, right,” said Roger. “Did you add to ‘Interesting Facts About President Eisenhower’?”
“No,” I said.
”Did you make a new list?” asked Allan. “That list of all our governors was way boring!”
“Just check it out, okay?” I said.
By eight that night, ten people had written in the slam book! They didn’t have to give their names, but I figured my friends had started things off, then spread the word.
Everybody likes Joe so the postings were mostly stuff like “Cool guy!” One person wrote: “He thinks he’s hot stuff.”
Since I got such a good response, I added a new question: “What do you think of Paige?” Paige talks a lot so I figured there would be lots of juicy comments about her!
By the next evening, there were thirty responses – mostly about Paige’s big mouth! One person even nicknamed her “Motormouth.” Oooh—slam!
This slam book thing was really fun! And it was getting people interested in my web page!
To keep them interested, I added my friend Allan. I couldn’t wait to see what people said about him.
The next morning before school, everyone kept saying how cool my web page was. I was feeling pretty good until Joe ran up and demanded, “Who said you could put me on your web page?”
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“Somebody said I think I’m hot. Which is not true!”
“That’s just one comment!”
“Well, I don’t like it,” he said, folding his arms.
“I don’t know why you’re getting mad at me. I didn’t write it.”
“Whatever!” He threw his arms in the air and stomped off.
In homeroom, Paige was staring daggers at me. “Hi, Paige!” I called. But she just turned away.
Roger said, “She’s mad at you because of what people said in ‘Slam!’”
“Hey, I didn’t write that stuff,” I said. “And anyway...can’t she take a joke?”
Allan plopped down beside me. “Why did you put me on your web page? Now people are going to write comments about me!”
“So?” I said. “What are you worried about? Everybody likes you.”
“I guess. They just better not say anything bad.” He gave me this threatening look like I was in trouble if they did!
An amazing forty-seven people responded about Allan! Most of the comments just said how “nice” he was. But there were some good slams, too. Like somebody said you could land a plane on Allan’s nose!
I was trying to decide who to put in “Slam!” next, when Allan appeared in my bedroom doorway. “You have to stop,” he said.
“Oh, hi! I didn’t hear the doorbell,” I said. “And stop what?”
“That!” He pointed to my computer screen. “Look at the mean stuff they said about me!”
“You’re too sensitive,” I said. “And I can’t help what people write, you know.”
“You set it all up!” he yelled. “So you’re responsible, too!”
“No, I’m not!” I yelled back.
He shook his head. “Don’t you care about anybody but yourself?”
Before I could reply, he hurried out the door and down the stairs.
After the front door slammed, Mom came to my room. “What’s Allan so upset about?”
“Nothing,” I said with a shrug.
“You know, sometimes we hurt people’s feelings without realizing it. It’s like...wait a minute!” She left the room then returned with her old slam book. “Look at this page.”
I read some really harsh comments: “Rabbit teeth”... “Ugly!”...“Queen of zits.”
“Wow! People really gave it to this....” I looked at the top of the page and read Mom’s name there!
“That was my slam book,” she said. “But one of my friends wrote my name in and passed it on.” She sighed. “Those comments really hurt me, but I don’t think anyone ever realized that.”
I felt sad for Mom – and angry. I was mad at the kids who wrote the cruel comments, but I was FURIOUS with the so-called friend who set her up. How could anyone be so mean?
Then a wave of shame pushed the anger aside. Wasn’t I doing the same thing with my high-tech slam book? I kept thinking I was so innocent since I didn’t write the actual words that hurt my friends. But I had definitely played a part in causing them pain. A big part.
“I...I think I hurt some people, too, Mom.” I showed her my on-line slam book and told her all about it. “I really messed up. I feel just terrible!”
“I know you do, Matthew.” Mom hugged me and went on. “I bet you can think of a way to make things right. Supper will be ready in an hour.”
After she left, I sat a few minutes, praying and thinking about what I should do. Then I got busy!
The first thing I did was e-mail big apologies to Joe, Paige, and Allan. (I hope they can forgive me!)
Then I took the slam book off my web page. In its place, I left a message saying I was wrong to encourage people to slam each other—and I was sorry.
I guess everyone will think my web page is boring again, but I don’t care. I don’t want to be responsible for hurting anybody anymore! I’ve closed the door on that big mistake.
Slam!
If you enjoyed this story, you will love getting your own copy of My Friend each month, filled with stories, comics, puzzles, and lots more! Click here for information on subscribing.