Joke's on you

I'm laughing on the inside. My 10 y.o. has had a great teacher these last six months in Australia. I knew it but my son just proved it to us. Last night the upper primary school had their presentation evening - when they presented an item (music and drama combined) and they were presented with various awards. The Year Fives did an item about Queensland's history, set in the 1860s. Our son scored an interesting part - an old man of 105 who limped around on the stage and carked it (Aussie for "died") towards the end. He did a good job, better than I expected. I asked him how he'd gotten the role and he said, "When my teacher was allocating roles, he asked the class who wanted to be the old man. No one volunteered." I often read to them towards the end of dinner and our eldest frequently interrupts the story by making wisecracks or miming a particularly graphic part of the story. It turns out this is what he was doing while the teacher was looking for volunteers. The joke turned back on our son as he drew attention to himself and got volunteered for a job he didn't want. He lost sleep over it early on - certain an injustice had been done to him. But after a lot of practise he got over the performance anxiety and did a great job. You gotta laugh when the class clown gets what he is seeking, but in the end doesn't really want - people's attention!