Finishing my 8 a.m. class this morning, I headed to the bathroom, where I crossed paths with one of my students.
He was facing me and his mouth was moving, so I removed my usually reliable student-blocking headphones.
"I hate you, he said. You are my teacher, so I have to love you. But I hate you."
This is one of those moments where I think of better reactions afterwards, such as pretending that I have no clue who he is, or pretending that his English is so horribad that his enunciation resembles a frog shitting its guts out, or saying, "Thanks for your reasoned input, future road construction worker," or else beaming at him and saying in my happiest voice, "I hate you much, much worse."
Instead I said, "Why?" even though I didn't really care, and he promised to let me know at the end of the semester.
Then he left, and I took a whiz.
As Mickey Rourke said in Barfly (one of my favorite movies): "Hatred. It's the only thing that lasts."
Of my present and past occupations of craps dealer, attorney, and teacher, you might consider these jobs to be a tossup in the hatred department. But attorneys have it easy, and the hatred aimed at craps dealers is usually tinged with hopeless desperation that makes the player an object of pity. Teachers get the mother lode.
He was facing me and his mouth was moving, so I removed my usually reliable student-blocking headphones.
"I hate you, he said. You are my teacher, so I have to love you. But I hate you."
This is one of those moments where I think of better reactions afterwards, such as pretending that I have no clue who he is, or pretending that his English is so horribad that his enunciation resembles a frog shitting its guts out, or saying, "Thanks for your reasoned input, future road construction worker," or else beaming at him and saying in my happiest voice, "I hate you much, much worse."
Instead I said, "Why?" even though I didn't really care, and he promised to let me know at the end of the semester.
Then he left, and I took a whiz.
As Mickey Rourke said in Barfly (one of my favorite movies): "Hatred. It's the only thing that lasts."
Of my present and past occupations of craps dealer, attorney, and teacher, you might consider these jobs to be a tossup in the hatred department. But attorneys have it easy, and the hatred aimed at craps dealers is usually tinged with hopeless desperation that makes the player an object of pity. Teachers get the mother lode.
maybe this is the ultimate reason why teachers sleep with their students - hate often times turns to lust under the right circumstances.
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