At work last week, a parent came into my school and handed me a colored pencil she said she found in the parking lot. I feel like this is the most baffling thing that has ever happened to me. The only plausible explanation I can come up with – for why ANYONE would EVER do that – is that she thought colored pencils and schools were like hypodermic needles and hospitals: The colored pencil needed to be disposed of in our special designated trash.