On Miles Davis

When I first met Myles, he wouldn't speak to me. One of my co-workers told me that Myles was a "selective mute" - in other words, he only spoke to certain people. This condition didn't last long, as Myles was soon speaking with us all. He's still relatively quiet, but he's also one hell of chess player.

As I mentioned in the "On working with kids" posting, I often call the kids I work with by nicknames. Myles, of course, became "Miles Davis." Last week, Myles gently tapped my shoulder.
"I know who Miles Davis is," he said. "He's a musician."
"How do you know that?" I asked.
"I looked on the computer," he said.

Impressed and flattered, I asked him if he knew what instrument Miles played. He didn't, so I suggested he look it up that night.
"So, did you find out what instrument Miles Davis played?" I asked the next day.
I could see it in the kid's face that he had forgotten all about it, but, courageous to the end, Myles took a guess anyway. "Tuba?"