How My Son Turned Into a Kangaroo

"Mr. Grumble! You stepped on a kangaroo's tail! His TAIL! Do you have any idea what a tail represents to a marsupial? It is his balance, his third point of support, his emotional center of gravity! And you trampled it!"
Tim took a small hop forward, his costume tail sweeping through the sand. He raised one kangaroo-paw glove and suddenly looked very serious, almost compassionate.
"Mr. Harmony... wait. I don't think Mr. Grumble did it on purpose. He didn't mean to step on my tail. He just didn't see it."
Mr. Harmony turned slowly toward Tim. His eyes shone with emotion.
"Tim! Your empathy is extraordinary. Even while suffering, you're defending the humanity of your aggressor!"
Then suddenly his smile vanished. He turned back around, as though a terrible revelation had just descended upon him. His voice rose, trembling with indignation.
"Not his fault? NOT HIS FAULT?! If Mr. Grumble didn't see your tail, Tim, that's precisely the problem! It's even worse! It represents an unconscious refusal to recognize your nature! He literally closed his eyes to the obvious reality of your diversity!"
Mr. Grumble, who had been attempting to stand up, spat out one final mouthful of sand.
"But I was looking at my sheet music..."
The principal threw both arms toward the sky.
"Your sheet music? YOUR SHEET MUSIC? Your sheet music takes priority over the vital balance of a kangaroo child? This is intolerable! We shall correct this immediately!"
He snapped his fingers. Two fifth-grade students appeared carrying a roll of padded gray fabric and an elastic belt. Before the music teacher could protest, they fastened the tail around his waist. It hung behind him, enormous, floppy, and absurdly out of proportion with his thin frame.
Mr. Harmony stepped back and tilted his head, admiring the result.
"Perfect. You will now wear this Awareness Tail. It is so long and so visible that you will never again 'fail to notice' a marsupial tail. You shall wear it until your vision becomes permanently inclusive."