A Polite Abduction (repeat)

Miss Sheely, my senior English teacher in high school was easily one of the
brightest and politest persons I have ever known. Whenever she orally
quizzed her students, her reply to an incorrect answer was inevitably, “No, but
thank you for trying.” Her policy of humility paid off in the respect she earned
from her students. Besides her primary task of teaching us standard American
English, she was also our senior class sponsor. Just prior to our departure for
the traditional senior trip to Washington, D. C., she called to the auditorium
first the females, then the males to discuss a subject we fellows decided must
be taboo amid mixed sexes. The talk turned out to be nothing but a warning to
stay together in groups of three or four to avoid the perils of the big city.
Returning to our classroom, one member of our class was heard to remark, “Well,
if anyone should try to pick her up, she’d just say, ‘No, but thank you for
trying.’”