Mar. 17, 2008 ~ May you live in interesting times...
Our World Literature instructor, normally sane, calm and rational, was not quite herself that day. She was angry. Very, very angry. And loud. Berating us all for not having read the assignment. She fired off question after question, and reluctantly, I finally answered one, because I had in fact read the material. We were all sneaking looks at each other, wondering if we had lost it or she had. She got louder and louder. I looked around, and no one seemed willing to speak up. I was, I think the oldest student in the class (30 something! A baby!), so I decided to be the grownup. I quietly asked if I might have a word with her, privately, that perhaps I could explain things. She looked at me as if I were quite mad, but we both stepped out into the hallway. I said that the only reason I knew the material was because I'd just read it for another class. That according to our syllabus, we weren't due to study that particular story until the following week. We were supposed to be reading something completely different this week. To make a long story short, we returned to the room and she began with, "You probably all think I've lost my mind..." and she apologized to the class, sincerely. She'd simply mixed up the dates. She shouldn't have yelled at us, she said. And so on.
Today was like that, without the yelling, and without the apology. The apology may come later, but I'm not holding my breath.
Someone at church, the chairman of a committee, came into the office today just as Coworker and I were about to lock up and leave. Chairman said he wanted a word with us first, and he actually wanted quite a few words.
He was upset, that much was clear. He wasn't yelling, but he wasn't happy. And it was like being in the same room with that English teacher. No one wanted to be the one to tell him the truth. I expect he will figure it out for himself here pretty soon.
All I can say is that this is going to be an interesting year.
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