Should I be Offended or Flattered?

New school year!  Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!  More fodder for my blog!

My class sits in the back of the gym at our daily morning assembly.  The eighth graders (my former students) sit on the bleachers directly behind my class.  I did not take this fact into account last year when I tormented them taught them language arts to the best of my ability.  It's only been two days, and already I have been mocked, kicked, and glared at.  I'm certain it's all done out of love, but this gives you a sense of the relationship that this group of girls has with me.

Anyway, the girls were glaring at me before assembly started.  This, of course, simply provokes me to come over and taunt them further.  When I did, one of the girls gave me a big hug.  I do not deny that I was slightly surprised by her gesture, but it was really sweet.

"See? Some people appreciate and love me," I said to the rest of the gaggle.

The hugging girl abruptly broke off the hug, slid down the bleachers, and said, "Oh, I wasn't hugging you because I missed you.  You're just really, really soft."

Hmmmm.  Soft is not generally an adjective I would use to describe myself, but maybe she had a point....