The tears of a postman
One of my problems in life in general is that once I notice or learn something, I just assume that everyone knows about it. For instance, I read some article or something in which a teacher was complaining about when her students would write her after they'd missed a class and ask if they'd missed anything. Which, for obvious reasons, is insulting. Say, you know that class that you just spent 3 hours putting together? Yeah? Well, was any of it worthwhile? Then the teacher talked about funny ways to answer that question: No, when we figured out you weren't coming, we all just went home, Yes, I decided to give the final, and if you missed it, sorry, you fail, etc. But now, when a student e-mails me and asks if they missed anything, I am filled with such rage that I can't even bring myself to respond to the e-mail. There are two in my inbox right now, waiting. What to say, what to say.
In other news, Mr. Debate Smackdown 2004 Kerry has totally won my vote. Sure wish he'd get around to explaining the nuances of his vote against the $87 billion for the troops ('cause we all know how much Americans love nuances), but my policy of avoiding the media drumbeat so as to avoid ulcers as well is helping out in this regard. He'll probably get around to saying something about it, so why worry?
While Debate Smackdown 2004 has increased my confidence in Kerry as a candidate, as well as eased my conscience about my own vote, I've also become more concerned than ever that Bush has some sort of mental problem. Was it just me, or was he barely coherent? I've mentioned before that I can't stand listening to him talk because at every pause in his speech I expect a meltdown, so watching the debate Thursday was nearly stroke-inducing. But aside from my personal comfort, more alarming is the question: is this the man whose finger we want on the button? What the hell is wrong with him?
I've got to get back to grading papers, which I've been doing diligently. Unfortunately, once I look away from them, I can't remember a word they've said, so it's hard to feel confident about the grades I'm tossing out. (Heh, I'm only kidding, mostly.) Perhaps I'll find those two students' papers and attach a post-it note that reads, "Sorry, didn't get around to reading your papers. Did you say anything interesting? B-."
One of my problems in life in general is that once I notice or learn something, I just assume that everyone knows about it. For instance, I read some article or something in which a teacher was complaining about when her students would write her after they'd missed a class and ask if they'd missed anything. Which, for obvious reasons, is insulting. Say, you know that class that you just spent 3 hours putting together? Yeah? Well, was any of it worthwhile? Then the teacher talked about funny ways to answer that question: No, when we figured out you weren't coming, we all just went home, Yes, I decided to give the final, and if you missed it, sorry, you fail, etc. But now, when a student e-mails me and asks if they missed anything, I am filled with such rage that I can't even bring myself to respond to the e-mail. There are two in my inbox right now, waiting. What to say, what to say.
In other news, Mr. Debate Smackdown 2004 Kerry has totally won my vote. Sure wish he'd get around to explaining the nuances of his vote against the $87 billion for the troops ('cause we all know how much Americans love nuances), but my policy of avoiding the media drumbeat so as to avoid ulcers as well is helping out in this regard. He'll probably get around to saying something about it, so why worry?
While Debate Smackdown 2004 has increased my confidence in Kerry as a candidate, as well as eased my conscience about my own vote, I've also become more concerned than ever that Bush has some sort of mental problem. Was it just me, or was he barely coherent? I've mentioned before that I can't stand listening to him talk because at every pause in his speech I expect a meltdown, so watching the debate Thursday was nearly stroke-inducing. But aside from my personal comfort, more alarming is the question: is this the man whose finger we want on the button? What the hell is wrong with him?
I've got to get back to grading papers, which I've been doing diligently. Unfortunately, once I look away from them, I can't remember a word they've said, so it's hard to feel confident about the grades I'm tossing out. (Heh, I'm only kidding, mostly.) Perhaps I'll find those two students' papers and attach a post-it note that reads, "Sorry, didn't get around to reading your papers. Did you say anything interesting? B-."
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