The Butt of Jokes
Do you ever have the experience where you approach a group of people, and immediately one of them bursts into laughter, or they were all laughing and suddenly clam up? Either way, the suspicion is always there in the back of your head that they have just been talking/laughing about you, so your sudden presence causes them to alter their behavior. This happens to me on occasion with students. It's a pretty common phenomenon. Heh, heh, it probably has something to do with the fact that I'm such a lightning rod of a figure, everyone either loves me or hates me, so either way they're always talking about me when they see me around. (I can just imagine what those who hate me say: "There goes Mr. ___, that fat blankety blankety blank. I'll bet he's gonna come by and say something about U.S. History!") In fact, today I approached a group of students in the library at a table. Interestingly enough, all of them were either current or former students of mine. I say hi to one of them, and another girl bursts into spontaneous laughter, and tells the others "That's the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life." "Huh?" Obviously I'm missing something, so I ask her what she means. She doesn't care to elaborate, and doesn't. I'm left in the dark to shrug it off or ponder what it means.
If I was a peer of these students, I'd obsess over it a lot more than I am. Probably I'd have some major issue over whether they think I'm weird or something. Thankfully I'm mostly above that with students, though naturally I'm curious. (I mean, after all, why worry much about the opinions of teenagers who pay big bucks to buy jeans with rips in them? In case you didn't know, this "ripped jean" look is the rage these days, and can be purchased for a mere 90 bucks at Abercrombie and Fitch, or some such type store I think. So I don't have much confidence in their value judgments.) But as a teacher these types of things come up quite often, so you learn generally to ignore it. Actually, most of the time such things are over something totally unrelated to the teacher. And given what things most students find funny, it's probably just as well that I don't know. Based on Claire's recently revealed ability to imagine things about Omar, maybe she could come up with some possible explanation of this incident. It's just another part of being a teacher: you learn to ignore some quirkiness in students, even while mocking them at whatever chance you get.
If I was a peer of these students, I'd obsess over it a lot more than I am. Probably I'd have some major issue over whether they think I'm weird or something. Thankfully I'm mostly above that with students, though naturally I'm curious. (I mean, after all, why worry much about the opinions of teenagers who pay big bucks to buy jeans with rips in them? In case you didn't know, this "ripped jean" look is the rage these days, and can be purchased for a mere 90 bucks at Abercrombie and Fitch, or some such type store I think. So I don't have much confidence in their value judgments.) But as a teacher these types of things come up quite often, so you learn generally to ignore it. Actually, most of the time such things are over something totally unrelated to the teacher. And given what things most students find funny, it's probably just as well that I don't know. Based on Claire's recently revealed ability to imagine things about Omar, maybe she could come up with some possible explanation of this incident. It's just another part of being a teacher: you learn to ignore some quirkiness in students, even while mocking them at whatever chance you get.
posted by redsoxwinthisyear at 10:19 PM
6 Comments:
Folks is funny to figure at any age! It's a whole lot more peaceful like when yer off on yer hoss way outn' the pucker brush away from all their tom foolery. Ol' 'Lanche don't give me no lip and come ta think on it, most dogs don't talk much either... 8~D
Okay...I'll do my best to respond to this challenge...
I think that A) they are all in cahoots to mess with your head and have a huge conspiracy to just laugh about whatever you do just to drive you crazy or 2) they were just saying something about some particular aspect of your appearance or mannerisms...Like for instance, " Have you noticed that Mr. ----'s tie is ALWAYS crooked?" Do you clear your throat before you say something? Do you hitch up your belt when you talk? Do you fold your arms a lot? Do you have "hanger horns"? Or holes in the armpits of your shirt? ( Remember that video we watched on Creationism in Bibleschool when Joseph Acker's sweater had little horns on his shoulders because he had dried his sweater on a hanger? And then I noticed holes in his sweater- in the armpit region...and thought it was the funniest thing...) ANYTHING you do can be a target. Kids will pick up on the smallest things like that and scrutinize them to DEATH and laugh hysterically. I know I did! The thing they notice may have no importance...it's just there. And if it's there consistently, it's all the more hilarious. Don't let it get to you. Time to cultivate some thick skin.
Clairge, good interpretation, although what mannerism it may be is a little bit mysterious to me. And the thick skin has been cultivated, let me assure you!
You should start a thick-skin farm, kind of like a sod farm, and you can sell it in strips to be implanted on less thick-skinned people.
Ewww! Go watch some horror movie before suggesting something like that again, heh, heh, heh...
I can't remember who passed this on to me, but it seems appropriate:
A young person spends a lot of time worrying about other people think about them.
A middle age person doesn't care about what other people are thinking.
An older person realizes that the other people weren't thinking about them at all.
Food for thought.
Post a Comment
<< Home