Sunday, January 27, 2008

Almost Monday

It's 11:17 on Sunday night. That means, damnitall, it's almost Monday.

The kids are interesting this semester. I have two classes of remedial sophomores, which means they hate English and have NEVER done well in it and I will be pulling teeth to get them to do anything at all, and one class of college-bound seniors who also hate English but are willing to work hard to pass because they don't want to be stuck in Caswell county forever.

One of my students said something Thursday that hit me in the head like a sledgehammer.

Last class of the day. I'd spent the entire day introducing myself to my students and getting them to introduce themselves to me. We played that toilet paper game -- the one where you have to take some toilet paper and then tell a fact about yourself for every single-ply sheet you have wadded up on your desk. I always have one smartass that takes off half the roll and then, when he realizes the catch in the game, stuffs the whole wad (with the exception of one sheet) in his pocket or backpack. But that's beside the point.

I always go last. I let the kids go first, so I can get an idea about what they're like, how they spend their time, whether or not they have any aptitude for English at all, etc.... so I go last. I always tear off an average of seven sheets, and my staple facts are always something along the lines of "I was born on Christmas Day" or "I gradutated from Appalachian State University" or "I spent two and a half weeks in Japan this past summer."

As usual, I went through the staple "interesting facts" about myself, stopping on that last one about Japan.

A kid in the back, who looked like he should have been a senior, a tall "good-ol-boy" type in hunter camouflage and a Carhart jacket, made this confused and disgusted face (yeah, disgusted -- like he'd just found a brand-new, unfamiliar turd that had come from some strange and unknown animal) and said, "Why would anybody want to go to Japan?"

I, not thinking, replied, "Why not? Do you want to stay in this county the rest of your life?"

He laughed with his buddies and said, "Well, yeah, I plan on bummin' off my parents as long as I can!"

I nearly had to leave the room to throw up.

After thinking about it for a long time, I have several theories as to why he made this response: 1.) He really is the product of a small-minded, isolationist, and bigoted culture or 2.) He's just scared of what's outside of this weird county because it's home or 3.) He's intimdated by somebody with more education, more life experience and obviously enough money to make trips to Japan.

Not that I'm Daddy Warbucks, but comparing me in high school with this kid, I probably do have a pretty significant financial advantage.

I have my work cut out for me.
Ugh, it's gonna be a hell of a semester.

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