Ben Franklin is famous for being one of the Founding Fathers of the American Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and a great inventor. He conducted important experiments, fearlessly tracking a kite through a storm to better understand electricity. He even invented bifocals. Thus, every time you see an older (or maybe not so old person) peering through a pair of lenses with a line carefully spanning across the glass, you can thank Ben Franklin. You also have Ben Franklin to thank; if not for the fact that the eagle is America's national bird, at least for his brave though fundamentally misguided suggestion that the turkey should be the United States' national symbol. Ben Franklin, oddly enough, loved turkey, both to watch them and to eat them. Particularly with yams and cornbread, if I recall. How do I know so much about Benjamin Franklin? Several months ago, on an unusually warm November day, I was sitting outside my school at lunchtime, studying for my American History exam the text say and munching a turkey sandwich. As is typical of a nice day, it was rather hard to concentrate with the sun shining on my face, so I decided to try to inspire myself. And what could be more inspiring than sitting next to one of the Founding Fathers himself?

There is a statue outside of our school depicting Ben Franklin sitting on a bench. I settled next to Ben and resolved to finish my studies while finishing my lunch. However, I soon became uncomfortably aware of the fact that, in addition to the still, rather cool surface of Ben Franklin's side, there was another extremely warm person next to me on the bench, who was moving and shifting around. I strove to ignore the individual at first, pretending to be engrossed in my book. However, as I am easily distracted and this proved difficult. I raised...

I was so surprised, I forgot to scream.
Are you acquainted with a Master Bill or a Master Ted?" he inquired.

Mutely, I shook my head.

Franklin told me his sad tale. Apparently, time travel has its inconsiderate moments. In an endeavor to study for their own history final, these two individuals, this "Master Bill," and "Master Ted," had lured Franklin into the present with promises of showing him various fascinating forms of technology that had resulted from some of his own experiments. They then cruelly used him in a presentation before their school, after which many students because of the unfashionable strangeness of his clothes mocked him. High School students can be so cruel, even to the greatest minds! Finally, his hosts Masters Bill and Ted abandoned Franklin. He wandered for some time, until he saw a familiar face -- namely his own, as captured by the statue's sculptor. He was also quite hungry, he confessed, having had nothing to eat since the 18th century. Bill and Ted were not only remiss in transporting Ben Franklin back to his own place and time in history, they also forgot to feed the poor Founding Father.

Immediately, pity began to fill my heart. Not only had Ben been cruelly used by individuals of the present, when he had only wanted to learn a bit more about the fascinations of television and escalators, he had also been mistreated by people of my own age group, also studying for an exam. All the while I had been cursing Franklin, having to memorize what to my mind seemed ridiculous facts pertaining to the Revolutionary War. But that was no fault of his.…