Classmates Mock Only Boy Who Gives School Janitor Flowers on Women’s Day, Male Teachers Step In – Story of the Day

While everyone is giving flowers to their female teachers on Women's Day, a boy gives them to his school janitor, and his classmates make fun of him for doing so. Then the boy reveals something heartbreaking, and everyone is left in tears.

"Are you really going to give the flowers to Mrs. Caldwell? She is so eww and dirty! I'd rather stay away from her," a boy said.

"You're such a loser, Nick! Only a loser would give flowers to other losers!"

Another boy laughed. "Why don't you keep the flowers to yourself? You're also like her! She is eww, and so are you!"

While his classmates continued to make fun of him just because he wanted to give flowers to the school janitor, Nick was in tears. Nonetheless, he got flowers for Mrs. Caldwell the next day, and his reason behind that left everyone in tears…

Like his fellow 4th graders, Nick was excited for the upcoming Women's Day. His school was planning a modest event, and the kids were thrilled to get flowers for their favorite female teachers. But while some did it out of love for their teachers, some did it because they thought their teachers would give them good grades.

"I'll give red roses to Mrs. Peterson…I failed her test last time! I want to impress her!" said one boy.

With tears in his eyes, Nick nodded. "You're right, Mr. Williams, but there's another reason why I wanted to give the flowers to Mrs. Caldwell."

"And I'll give my flowers to Miss Rosaline. I hate her subject, and I always do so badly in math. I know she'll be happy about the flowers. I hope she'll give me good grades… What about you, Nick? Who are you giving flowers to?" another boy asked while they were all playing in the school playground.

Shyly, Nick said, "Mrs. Caldwell…our school janitor."

"THE JANITOR?!" laughed a boy. "Ewww, she's dirty! And she doesn't have anything to do with your grades, Nick! All she can do is clean things!"

"That's mean, guys!" retorted Nick. "You shouldn't say such things about anyone."

"Oh really?" chimed another. "Do you feel bad for her because she's a loser just like you? Everyone! Loser Nick is going to give the flowers to the janitor!" shouted the boy, and all the kids started laughing at Nick, whose eyes began to well up with tears.

The next day, while everyone else got big bouquets for their teachers, Nick stuck to his word and brought Mrs. Caldwell a lovely bunch of red tulips.

All the kids looked at him and laughed as they knew he was giving them to the school janitor. Nevertheless, Nick went to Mrs. Caldwell, who stood in the corner all alone, and smiling awkwardly, he gave her the bouquet.

"Happy Women's Day, Mrs. Caldwell," he said, offering the flowers, and she smiled.

"Oh, thank you, young man," she said sweetly. "You're the only one who thought about me, and I must say, you made my day!"

At that point, the kids started laughing at Nick. "Look... look... Nick actually gave the flowers to the dirty lady!" a boy said, and other kids joined him in laughing.

"Did she clean your shoes in exchange for what you did, Nick?" a boy teased him. "After all, that's her job! To CLEAN UP!"

Meanwhile, the male teachers had been observing what was going on, taking note of the kids who were humiliating Nick until one of them stepped in.

"All you mean heads," said the teacher. "Stop teasing someone who did a good thing! Regardless of their position, all females deserve to be respected, and today holds a special meaning for all women out there. Am I correct, Nick?" he asked.

With tears in his eyes, Nick nodded. "You're right, Mr. Williams, but there's another reason why I wanted to give the flowers to Mrs. Caldwell. It's not because it's Women's Day...."

"Oh, is that so?" he asked gently. "Would you like to share the reason with us then?"

Nick started to cry. "Because I used to be mean like my classmates too. A year ago, I insulted the janitor at my old school. Before coming here, I spent a year studying there. I was rude to the school cleaner and made fun of her. The principal punished me by assigning me to clean one classroom, and it was very hard.

"The cleaning lady was very polite, and she was very kind. I couldn't do anything by myself, so she helped me. And when I picked up the mop and began cleaning, all of my classmates laughed and made fun of me, just like I used to make fun of the cleaning lady.

"That day, I learned that every job is important, and cleaners work very hard for us. They keep everything clean, so we can study and play in clean classrooms and playgrounds. We should respect them."

After Nick shared his reason, the children who were teasing him regretted their words, and all the adults' eyes, including Mrs. Caldwell's, welled up.

"Do you know you've done a brilliant job, Nick?" his teacher complimented him. "Good job!"

Soon after this, the students who were mean to Mrs. Caldwell apologized to her and Nick, realizing what they'd done wasn't right. On the other hand, the school principal, moved by Nick's kind gesture toward a blue-collar worker, took a picture of the boy handing flowers to Mrs. Caldwell and put it in the central hall on a board honoring those who had made the school proud.

"Nick and Mrs. Cynthia Caldwell – The Best Women's Day Moment, 2022," the tag on the picture read.

What can we learn from this story?

• No job should ever be looked down upon. While the other children made fun of Mrs. Caldwell's work as a janitor, Nick knew how difficult Mrs. Caldwell's job was, and he got her beautiful flowers on Women's Day out of respect for her.
• Sometimes, we need to be tough with kids to teach them a lesson. Nick was once a mean child who made fun of the school janitor, but after his ex-principal punished him by asking him to do the work of a janitor, he understood what he'd done was wrong and never did it again.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a janitor who was fired after her son helped her mop the floors. She later got help from someone unexpected.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.