THE BATHROOM STANDOFF

A 10-year-old boy came home saying his teacher had mocked him in front of the whole class for needing to pee.

His father, a 38-year-old man, had already been bracing for trouble. The boy had hated Ms. Lopez for a long time, telling his dad she was always yelling, humiliating people, and being strict for no reason. The father said his son was a good kid and that he would "jump into action" if Ms. Lopez ever did something to him.

Then came the bathroom rule.

At school, the boy "really had to use the restroom," but Ms. Lopez had a rule in her class: students could only go once a day, and otherwise they had to wait until lunch or recess. The boy had already gone once, so when he asked again, she refused. According to the father, he had already told his son what to do if that happened: "if she ever tries to enforce this dumb rule on him, just go anyways and me and his mother will take care of it if he gets in trouble."

So the boy went anyway.

When he got back, he had a story. Ms. Lopez, he said, made fun of him in front of everyone, saying he was about to have a "pee pee accident." He said she yelled at him and told him she was going to call his parents later.

That was the version the father heard when his son got home. He said he was appalled. His son, he wrote, "is not a liar."

Later, the call came. Ms. Lopez phoned the house, and the father answered. Instead of letting the conversation stay calm, he unloaded on her. He says he cussed her out, accusing her of humiliating a 10-year-old boy and trying to bully him. He told her, "How dare she humiliate a 10 year old boy in front of the entire class and try to bully him." He also said, "She should be ashamed."

The teacher hung up about 40 seconds into the rant.

Afterward, the father's wife told him he had gone too far. She agreed that the child should be moved out of Ms. Lopez's class, but said the cussing was uncalled for.

Now the father is left asking the question himself: was he the asshole for how he answered the teacher's call?