• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Larry G. Maguire | Sunday Letters

Articles life, work, and the pursuit of happiness

  • Start Here
  • Sunday Letters
  • Podcast
  • Merch
  • Archive
  • Subscribe
  • About

Wellington Street

14th December 2023 by Larry G. Maguire Leave a Comment

Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.

I remember sitting in the classroom on what may have been my first day, but I can't be sure. It was Miss Tobin's class, and I must have been only five years old. The tables were flecked grey, like lino floor covering. When pushed together, they'd make a hexagon for us to sit around in our miniature red plastic chairs. The room was huge to me, full of colourful things, bottles of paint, jigsaws, beanbags and board games on shelves.

An Indian kid with his mother came into the room. He must have been late that day because we were all seated around our hexagon tables. Pleasantries were exchanged, I expect, I don't remember much of that, but then it all kicked off. She tried to leave, and he wasn't having a bar of it. Like a repetitive movie scene, forty-five years later, I see him restrained and screaming at the top of his voice. He must have settled down eventually. Traumatic, though, for kids to be separated from their mothers. We became friends eventually.

Many years later, I found myself back at that school – St Joseph's, Wellington Street, I think. It's a community centre and afterschool now. The yard wall doesn't look so high now, and what were classrooms are a canteen, games room and offices. Funny how the world looks so big and intimidating when you're small.

Read more from Larry G. Maguire

Sign up to receive more content like this. I'll send you Sunday Letters each week.

I don’t spam. Read my privacy policy for more info.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: Society & Culture Tagged With: dailyprompt

Author | Larry G. Maguire

I'm Larry G. Maguire, writer and work psychologist focusing on behaviour and performance in the workplacee. I publish the weekly Sunday Letters Journal and work with clients helping them find clarity and direction in work. > Get in touch with me here

Reader Interactions

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Footer

Read Sunday Letters

Get a weekly read that explores the human condition and asks how we can find meaning and purpose in the technology age.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Copyright Larry G. Maguire © 2025 · Built in Dublin · Be Cool

  • Substack
  • Medium
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Conditions
  • Contact Larry

Insert/edit link

Enter the destination URL

Or link to existing content

    No search term specified. Showing recent items. Search or use up and down arrow keys to select an item.
      %d