(no subject)
I need to watch where I aim my trivia. I came out of Physics yesterday feeling like I narrowly missed shooting myself in the foot, in a class-politics kind of way.
The teacher was in one of his rambling tangents, and he cheerfully mentioned that he and his wife had gone to what was the oldest running musical, recently, and that it had been going on for forty/fifty years. Its name was something I can't remember. Without thinking, I blurted out, "What about Phantom of the Opera? Hasn't that been going on for sixty years?"
Long pause. Realizing his expression, I meekly offered the possibility that I could be wrong. He slowly and awkwardly seemed to like that idea, nodding a little and saying 'well, probably', until one of the guys in the back of the class spoke out to say 'She's right'. Because of that, the awkwardness lasted a few seconds longer, until the subject moved on. Personally, I'd have been just fine absorbing the image of sweet and mistaken. I'm never going to see a lot of those classmates after the end of the semester, and if I care strongly about their opinion, my words, grades, and actions will speak for themselves. The teacher? Even if I'm asking him for a letter of recommendation, I don't think he needs to be impressed with my musical trivia to do it.
During an emergency study-hall before a test, last week, one of the guys was talking about how it sometimes seemed to him that the teacher's mood depended on who was talking to him, and that he treated some students more leniently depending on who they were, and what their homework/extra-credit/test history was with him. I wasn't sure what to say to that. After all, 'Duh?' didn't seem right. Of course teachers don't treat students uniformly: good and pleasant students get goodwill, students who get crappy grades but are still pleasant get distant but friendly smiles, and students that aren't pleasant get bad feelings, no matter what their grades are. It's a fact. It's the way classrooms work. The teachers are human, and it's no secret. Why would that guy talk about it? It seems strange that he didn't understand, or that this might have been new to him.
Harsh words hurt yourself. I was getting on a bus a while ago and the bus driver snapped some generalized statement about my generation and ipods that bewildered me. I thought about it for the rest of the day, and I remembered it the next. Yesterday, I recognized that same bus driver, whereas I might not have paid any attention at all if he hadn't snapped. He's hurt himself: yes, I examined my thoughts on my generation and discussed it with people (which he probably never even particularly intended), but I will also never forget him or what he said. Which no one intends, because everyone wants to be loved in the way they love themselves, rather than remembered for isolated random interactions.
The teacher was in one of his rambling tangents, and he cheerfully mentioned that he and his wife had gone to what was the oldest running musical, recently, and that it had been going on for forty/fifty years. Its name was something I can't remember. Without thinking, I blurted out, "What about Phantom of the Opera? Hasn't that been going on for sixty years?"
Long pause. Realizing his expression, I meekly offered the possibility that I could be wrong. He slowly and awkwardly seemed to like that idea, nodding a little and saying 'well, probably', until one of the guys in the back of the class spoke out to say 'She's right'. Because of that, the awkwardness lasted a few seconds longer, until the subject moved on. Personally, I'd have been just fine absorbing the image of sweet and mistaken. I'm never going to see a lot of those classmates after the end of the semester, and if I care strongly about their opinion, my words, grades, and actions will speak for themselves. The teacher? Even if I'm asking him for a letter of recommendation, I don't think he needs to be impressed with my musical trivia to do it.
During an emergency study-hall before a test, last week, one of the guys was talking about how it sometimes seemed to him that the teacher's mood depended on who was talking to him, and that he treated some students more leniently depending on who they were, and what their homework/extra-credit/test history was with him. I wasn't sure what to say to that. After all, 'Duh?' didn't seem right. Of course teachers don't treat students uniformly: good and pleasant students get goodwill, students who get crappy grades but are still pleasant get distant but friendly smiles, and students that aren't pleasant get bad feelings, no matter what their grades are. It's a fact. It's the way classrooms work. The teachers are human, and it's no secret. Why would that guy talk about it? It seems strange that he didn't understand, or that this might have been new to him.
Harsh words hurt yourself. I was getting on a bus a while ago and the bus driver snapped some generalized statement about my generation and ipods that bewildered me. I thought about it for the rest of the day, and I remembered it the next. Yesterday, I recognized that same bus driver, whereas I might not have paid any attention at all if he hadn't snapped. He's hurt himself: yes, I examined my thoughts on my generation and discussed it with people (which he probably never even particularly intended), but I will also never forget him or what he said. Which no one intends, because everyone wants to be loved in the way they love themselves, rather than remembered for isolated random interactions.