Mr. Poop

Illustrated by Tim Heitz

"**Mr. Poop**" is the sixteenth chapter of *Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger*.

## Synopsis

With Mrs. Drazil watching him, Louis drops his casual, fun-loving personality and becomes a boring and strict Professional Playground Supervisor out of fear of being punished by her again.

## Plot

This chapter opens with Joy, Maurecia, and Jenny jumping rope. They sing a song taught to them by Louis, when Maurecia stops twirling, tripping over Joy. Joy asks what's going on, when Maurecia points out a handsome stranger they haven't seen before. The stranger greets Maurecia, Jenny, and Joy, which frightens Maurecia, who doesn't recognize him and doesn't know how he knows her or her friends. She looks around for Louis, but doesn't see him, threatening to scream very loud, when Jenny notices the stranger *is* Louis. However, his hair is combed, his shirt is tucked in, he's wearing a tie, and most importantly, he has shaved his mustache. Louis re-introduces himself as Mr. Louis, and that he wants to be treated with respect. Maurecia invites him to jump rope, but he says that as an adult and Professional Playground Supervisor, he shouldn't play games. He walks away, Maurecia and Jenny thinking he's more handsome, Joy thinking he looks goofy.

In Mrs. Jewls's class, everyone is talking about the new Louis. While some people find him handsome, some think he looks weird. John is upset, because Mr. Louis stopped him from running across the blacktop, made him walk back to the edge, and walk across slowly. Mrs. Drazil hopes everyone in the class will give the new Louis a chance, noting the troublemaker he was before, but Joy decides it's her fault Louis has changed drastically, both in personality and appearance, going from a fun, easy-going fellow with a mustache to a stern, clean-shaven humbug. During recess, Mr. Louis stops the Three Erics from playing with the balls, noting they are too filthy and not properly inflated. He explains he has to follow protocols set forth by POOPS, or the Professional Organization Of Playground Supervisors. He shows them the handbook, and Eric Fry asks what they should do while Mr. Louis works on the balls. He tells them to have fun, but not to run across the blacktop, eat outside, stay off the grass, and avoid excessive shouting. Eric Bacon calls Mr. Louis a booger brain, but Mr. Louis corrects him, calling himself "Mr. Booger Brain".

The next day, as the students attempt to go to recess, they are stopped on the fourth floor by students backed up from the other classrooms below. Joy asks what's going on, and someone explains that Mr. Louis won't let anyone outside because he's too busy painting the blacktop. Joy decides to squeeze herself through the crowd and confront Mr. Louis, asking what he's doing. Mr. Louis explains that since the blacktop is gray, he has to paint it black again, as specified by POOPS, and shows Joy the handbook. Fed up, she picks up the handbook and throws it across the graytop, which lands in the bucket of black paint. The other students all cheer, and Joy calls Louis a "poop" as an insult. Mr. Louis grows furious, saying he should be "Mr. Poop".

## Characters

* Joy
* Maurecia
* Jenny
* Louis
	+ Mr. Louis
* Calvin
* Bebe Gunn
* John
* Mrs. Drazil
* Eric Bacon
* Eric Fry
* Eric Ovens
* Unnamed students
* Stephen

## Trivia

* For some reason, Louis identifies himself as "Mr. Louis" here, despite Louis likely being his first name.
* The dialogue mentioning "Booger Brain" is cut in some versions.

## Gallery

Joel Schick illustrationAdam McCauley illustrationPeter Allen illustrationPeter Allen second illustration