Retarded Wreck Center
[A teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their
vacation. One child wrote the following...]
“We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live
here in a big brick house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida and now they
live in a place with a lot of other retarded people. They live in a tin box and have rocks
painted green to look like grass. They ride around on big tricycles and wear name tags
because they don't know who they are anymore. They go to a building called a wrecked
center, but they must have got it fixed, because it is all right now. They play games and
do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool, too, but
they all jump up and down in it with their hats on. I guess they don't know how to swim.
At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all
day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out. Then they go cruising in their golf
carts. My Grandma used to bake cookies and stuff, but I guess she forgot how.
Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And they eat the same thing every night. Some of
the people can't get past the man in the dollhouse to go out. So the ones who do get out
bring food back to the wrecked center and call it potluck. My Grandma says Grandpa worked
all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded some
day, too.
When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will
let people out so they can visit their grandchildren.”