Retrospect: Jimbo

Self-tutoring about people and events from the past: the tutor reflects.

One time in grade five, the teacher told us to write a story about someone in the class, with one catch: it was meant to be about someone you didn’t know very well. I think her reasoning was that, writing about someone we didn’t know, we’d use more imagination.

A kid lived a few houses down from me who’d lived in that town his whole life. (In fact, many of them had.) I’ll call him Carl – of course, that wasn’t his name. He normally acted pretty normal, but sometimes he’d surprise you: he did so that day.

Carl didn’t write his story about anyone in the class; rather, he invented a character and wrote a story about him. The character’s name was Jimbo.

According to Carl’s story, Jimbo didn’t know his parents: he’d always lived on his own. He went to school like a kid his age would; however, no-one at his school knew he lived on his own. His dwelling was “a run-down shack.”

Jimbo made his money various ways, including “repurposing” many items. He also fought in prize fights.

Jimbo couldn’t see a point to school, but was very good at sports. His plan was to attend school until adulthood, when he could become a professional soccer player or boxer (or both).

The class listened, engrossed, as Carl read out his story. Everyone wanted to hear more about Jimbo.

The next day, kids were talking about Jimbo. By week’s end, kids in the other classes were also mentioning Jimbo – you’d hear them say the name at recess or lunch.

Jimbo became an authority and folk-hero. People wondered what Jimbo would do in a given situation. Some slick soccer plays were “Jimbo moves.” Jimbo had been invented in the October of grade five; by May, Jimbo was the most talked-about person among fifth-graders at the school.

Curiously, I never heard “Jimbo” after grade five ended. That’s kids for you, though: they grow out of things suddenly, and just forget about them. I’ll never forget “Jimbo”, his inventor, or how the two gave fifth grade a whole extra dimension:)