Most teachers probably don’t know when they first decided to become a teacher.

I knew exactly when.

We had a dog. He was part German Shepherd and part Australian sheep dog. His name was Flippy. He was pretty big, didn’t have a tail, and he loved me and licked my face.

My job was to feed him. That’s probably partly why he licked my face.

I would get his bowl, and get a can of dog food. It was a pretty big can because he was a pretty big dog. I used the can opener to punch through the edge at the top, then grind around the top until it was cut almost all the way around, then bend the top back.

Inside you could see the dark brown dog food in chunks in thick dark brown gravy.

It was made with horsemeat. The label said so. It also said, “Fit for human consumption.” It had recipes for horsemeat stew.

I got very excited reading that. I was always hungry.

So I got my spoon and dug in. There was a thin layer of yellowish fat on the top that you could mix with the rest. I lifted a little chunk of horsemeat and tried a bite. Pretty good. Not bad. Real meat. I didn’t need a recipe.

So I spooned a chunk into Flippy’s bowl. Then a chunk for me. Then one for Flippy. Then one for me. We finished the whole can together and we were both happy.

I was in primary school at the time. I walked to school every day. I was little, the shortest kid around, but my little legs got me there and back home when the school day was over.

I loved school. We learned things. They taught us everything. And they let us read.

I was so excited about learning that I decided to share it.

I got all the kids in the neighborhood, who were all older and bigger than me, I got them into the backyard and had them sit on the fence. The fence boards went up and down and they sat on the top in a row, their legs hanging down.

I stood below on the ground and taught them what I learned in school.

I would tell them about the sun and the way the earth turns and revolves around. The moon revolves around the earth and turns itself around once a month but slowly so you only saw the same face and never the other side.

I taught them about trees and how they take water from the roots through tubes up to the top where the leaves were waiting for it, and how the leaves cleaned carbon dioxide out of the air and broke it up to let the oxygen out into the air to make it better to breathe, especially at night. We all practiced deep breathing together.

Then I would give them a test. I would ask questions and they would answer.

I was standing below on the ground, my can of dog food open in my left hand, my spoon in my right.

When they got the answer right, I would dig a little chunk of horsemeat dog food out with my spoon and toss it in the air to the student who got the right answer.

He or she, it was equal opportunity and everyone was included, would snag the chunk of dog food as it arched through the air into their mouth.

Then a spoonful for me, and another question. I went down the line, right to left, easy questions, easy answers, a chunk of dog food flying through the air into each open snapping mouth.

I took great satisfaction in rewarding my students who were all learning so well.

I thought, “I like being a teacher. I like teaching the students and seeing them learn. I’m really good at it. I could do this for a living. And I get to eat dog food. What could be better than that?”