I had to.
10 minutes into class (7th grade English) and the kids are working on a sheet. I walk by this kid's desk. We'll call him Fred. I notice this purple rubber thing on his desk. It took me a second to realize wtf it was.
"Do-do-do-doooo...checking work...everybody is working...should be on #4 by now...looks good...what is that? A toy? A finger puppet? Is that a sex toy? Holy ####, it's a #### ring!"
So I say to Fred, rather casually, "where did you get that?" He says. "It was in my desk". I tell him to give it to me. Now if I had picked it up like it was radioactive he and the goofballs around him would have suspected something.
I should explain that I'm 95% sure Fred and the 4 kids sitting around him didn't know what the hell it was. I mean maybe they had a clue that it was something dirty but I doubt it. There was no laughing or panicking or freaking out when I took it from Fred. And if Fred had any clue he probably wouldn't just have it sitting on his desk like one of those wacky rubber pencil toppers.
After class I pulled Fred aside and asked him "hey, that thing I took from you...was it really in your desk?" He tells me yes. I then asked him if he had any idea where it came from. He says that this other kid, Matt, told him to look inside his desk right when he first sat down.
So I go find Matt before he leaves campus. I ask him if he was the one that put the thing in Fred's desk. He admits it. I then ask him where he got it. He says that he found it on the street.
I have no idea if he was telling the truth or not. BUT if he tells me he found it and not something like "I took from my mom's underwear drawer" I pretty much don't have to call home.
I showed it to my principal and told him the story. He thought it was hilarious.
Oh, and I washed my hands after touching it.
