When I was in second grade, 1961-2, my teacher was a single woman with a German last name. This was suburban Long Island, the Germans had been forgiven to some extent and the enemy was the Soviet Union. In those years we did civil defense drills, scurrying into the corridors and squatting against the wall with our hands clasped over our necks.

My teacher was the epitome of softness; her chestnut hair in a bun looked like it would be unruly when left on its own, her dresses showed her femininity in every curve. Her soprano voice had a lilting tone and the slightest of accents. Just a year before, I had studied with a dark-haired woman with black-rimmed glasses and angular clothing whose hairdo looked like it would stay in place had the pins been removed.

In second grade I was introduced to a new birthday tradition: the spanking. Each time a child’s birthday came around, he or she would be invited to the front of the classroom. Our ever so lovely Miss K- would lay the child across her lap with the head and back visible to those sitting on the teacher’s left side. The child’s bottom was behind the desk. At this point we would hear at first seven, but after December 1, eight loud slaps. Then the birthday celebrant would get up and return to his seat. None of us spoke to him; I guess we were petrified by this violent custom. We all knew spanking as punishment, but this was something else. It didn’t fit into our classification systems.

Six and a half months after the first day of school, I would be invited to take my turn on the teacher’s lap. To think that the July and August children would never discover the secret is curious, but the time has come to spill the beans. Those eight loud slaps were not the result of the teacher’s hand on my clothed bottom, or even my bare bottom. Miss K- placed the back of her left on my bottom and then struck her palm with her right hand. To paraphrase the Zen, this was the sound of two hands clapping. I got up and went back to my seat, knowing that the teacher and I had a secret, and never said a word about it.