I was in second grade and already looking for a way to "liven up" the class. Our teacher had our desks put together in groups of six, with three desks facing three other desks, thus making a "large table" appearance. This allowed the sharing of crayons, paste, scissors and similar tools of the 2nd grade trade. I did all the normal experimentation....colored my clothes, ate paste, made "snowflakes" out of my homework...I was a creative kid.
One day at lunch, one of the kids who bought hot lunch (we always had to pack our lunches) was sprinkling pepper on his food and it made him sneeze. We decided it would be WAAAYYY funny to bring pepper into school and, while we were supposed to be working on some sort of creative rendering, we would sniff the pepper and start sneezing. (Seriously, I think we were in disparate need of a LIFE, but I tell you the truth!)
So, the next day, I smuggled pepper out of the house and into the classroom. All six of the kids at my "table" were in on the joke. So, when the moment seemed right, we passed the pepper around the group, and each took a big sniff of the stuff.
It was then that I learned that taking a direct hit of black pepper does not result in sneezing, as does a "second hand sniff" of the stuff as it is being applied to food. No, indeed. I sniffed good and hard on that pepper and was almost immediately treated to the most horrendous burning sensation I had experienced in all of my 7 years on this planet! And as tears rolled out of my eyes and down my face, I heard my cohorts having similar reactions to our misguided plan.
We did achieve our intended goal of livening up the classroom that day, but I can assure you, we PAID for our folly. And I never again took a direct hit of black pepper.
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