Summary

Penelope went to a job interview at the school she had gone to as a child. Her father’s neighbor had gotten her the interview and spoken well of her to the principal, Mrs Pine. Without saying the speech she had researched, Mrs Pine offered her the position, saying she would hire her as a substitute teacher but not hire anyone to replace her. Mrs Pine told her how the school had changed, how there were white children in the school now too. Mrs Pine told her that she believed this to be a good thing, that children benefit from integration, however Penelope thought it was sad. Penelope felt insulted when Mrs Pine told her she had to meet the children to understand their struggles, “as if she hadn’t learned all that when she was a girl” (30).

After...