THIS IS HOW WE LOSE IT
It's the last class of the day. My students are extremely punchy and I've had too much coffee. And then Anthony farts. Loudly. For a moment the entire class, like one big organism, is trying to decide if the noise should be ignored or acknowledged. First Bill turns his head, as if in slow-mo. And then Joe turns his head in the same direction and smirks. And then it's all over. The whole class erupts into a giggling riot. Meanwhile, I'm trying to gain control of my audience. You know, get them back to the topic of water pollution.
...Only I'm laughing too. I mean, really laughing. I'm looking down, pinching the bridge of my nose, trying to hide the fact that my shoulders are shaking. And the harder I try to stop, the more I laugh. I had to look away, out the window somewhere, and curse myself quietly before I could finally move on. It was totally embarrassing and unprofessional and hilarious.
3 Comments:
Is there an age at which loudly farting at inappropriate moments actually becomes inappropriate, the way our parents made us think it was? Or is that what they mean by referring to the "generation gap," no pun intended?
2/08/2007
That's a very good question, Hal. I bet there's some cultural relativity too. Of course, we can ALL look forward to that "ripe old age" when farting and even quietly shitting yourself in public is a venial offense.
2/11/2007
I wonder if your pun about "ripe," i.e. foul-smelling and pungent, was intentional. I hope so. Maybe that's why they call it "ripe old age."
2/13/2007
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