Possibilities
There’s any number of things I could write about today:
An instructor I know had a student this quarter who was a complete flake. He never handed in any assignments and when he would come to class, he’d sit in the back with his arms folded, and fall asleep. The instructor tried on numerous occasions to engage the student, but the kid never really responded. He stopped coming to class a couple weeks before the quarter ended and failed the class. The day before grades were due, though, the instructor gets an email from the student’s mom inquiring how it happened that her son wasn’t given the support he needed to succeed in the class. The instructor does his best to respond to her thoughtfully and with compassion, but inside, he’s thinking, “This is college, isn’t it? Why is Mommy stepping in here? Am I just being played for a pawn in this interfamilial drama? And why should I answer these emails, anyway? I’m on winter break.”
An atheist whose ear I have has had enough of all this talk by Republican presidential hopefuls Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney about how important religion and belief in a Christian God is to truth, justice, and the American way. Not that this fellow has any interest in a career in politics, anyway, but it sure seems ironic to him that a country founded on the idea of religious freedom is apparently moving towards a requirement to go to church as a condition for elected office.
A couple I couldn’t be closer to spent their day clearing out all sorts of old and broken down stuff in their basement. Two loads of junk were taken to the dump and how the downstairs is eminently more livable and workable-in. The couple is delighted to have reclaimed some space in their house and what feels like some room in their lives. But now, they’re too tired to write anything more about it.
An instructor I know had a student this quarter who was a complete flake. He never handed in any assignments and when he would come to class, he’d sit in the back with his arms folded, and fall asleep. The instructor tried on numerous occasions to engage the student, but the kid never really responded. He stopped coming to class a couple weeks before the quarter ended and failed the class. The day before grades were due, though, the instructor gets an email from the student’s mom inquiring how it happened that her son wasn’t given the support he needed to succeed in the class. The instructor does his best to respond to her thoughtfully and with compassion, but inside, he’s thinking, “This is college, isn’t it? Why is Mommy stepping in here? Am I just being played for a pawn in this interfamilial drama? And why should I answer these emails, anyway? I’m on winter break.”
An atheist whose ear I have has had enough of all this talk by Republican presidential hopefuls Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney about how important religion and belief in a Christian God is to truth, justice, and the American way. Not that this fellow has any interest in a career in politics, anyway, but it sure seems ironic to him that a country founded on the idea of religious freedom is apparently moving towards a requirement to go to church as a condition for elected office.
A couple I couldn’t be closer to spent their day clearing out all sorts of old and broken down stuff in their basement. Two loads of junk were taken to the dump and how the downstairs is eminently more livable and workable-in. The couple is delighted to have reclaimed some space in their house and what feels like some room in their lives. But now, they’re too tired to write anything more about it.
posted by Professor Dave at 9:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home