How To Torture a School Boy For Years

The film, "The Graduate" starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft came out before I went to high school, but by the time I was at OCHS, it was being shown on TV. In the film, Dustin Hoffman, a college graduate has an affair with an older woman. She was the wife of his father's law partner, a Mr. Robinson. Simon & Garfunkel's hit "God Bless You Mrs. Robinson" was a part of the soundtrack for the movie.

Mrs. Robinson was also a teacher at OCHS. I was in one of her classes, but I honestly do not remember what she taught. I don't even know her first name. I probably said three words to her all term. When I asked her to sign my yearbook, she signed it as above -- "Love and Kisses, Mrs. Robinson".

I immediately canvassed all of my male friends to see if they got the same signature in their yearbooks. They didn't. Why was I singled out for this? Was it a whim? Was she toying with me?

I have wondered about this for years. I still do.

Shirley Smegal, the school secretary is blurred in the background.