2538. Dunk bucket © Bruce Goodman 8 October 2022

The school’s fund-raising gala day had one of those things where a teacher sits under a contraption that has a bucket of water above the head. People pay to throw a ball at a target and if it hits then the bucket tips over and pours water all over the teacher. Of course, everything is taken in a cheerful spirit. There’s hardly a non-nerdy pupil who is not keen to throw a bucket of water over a teacher. When the Headmaster sat in the contraption no one paid to throw a ball at the target. Everyone hated him; which just goes to show that teachers have to be liked to have a bucket of water thrown over them. The Headmaster was annoyed. He had not brought a change of clothes and had been quite unprepared to sit under the dunk bucket, but he thought he had better do his bit. The teacher who was Head of Chemistry felt sorry for him and paid to throw a ball. The ball hit its mark and the Headmaster was utterly drenched. No one really minded, although many pretended to, when several days later the Headmaster died of pneumonia. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story