How sad is that?! No, seriously, I’m really sad right now. I’m just terribly stressed at the moment. Who knew I would crack under the pressure of a new job after just three weeks?
I need to get things out of my head to stay sane and lately I don’t have time to write more than “Nice job on this paper” or “Get a friend to proofread!” (I write the latter at least 40 times a day.) As mundane as all that is, teaching my online course has actually produced quite a bit of existential and philosophical angst in me. The first two weeks I was convinced that this job just wasn’t the right fit for me, and I was overly introspective about the purpose of my life and how or if this really aligns with it. I kept mulling over the epistemological perspectives that I’m most comfortable teaching from and whether they match with those that my students are most interested in learning from. By the end of the second week (last Friday), I felt like I was quieting my mind on the topic, at least a little bit.
And then the oddest thing happened. Saturday morning I was lying around, grading papers when I heard a knock at the door. I found two high school girls standing on my doorstep. I thought they were going to ask me to buy a candy bar, which, of course, creates all sorts of existential angst in me. But instead they asked if they could give me a three-question survey for one of their classes. Phew. So much easier than saying no to a chocolate-bar-for-a-good-cause. That’s what I thought anyway, until I heard the questions:
- What do you think are moral absolutes?
- What do you think truth is?
- Do you think truth and reality are the same thing?
Seriously? What are the chances that I’m in the midst of one my semi-annual (or more often, who’s really counting?) existential crises and two teenagers just happen to stop by to chat about moral absolutes? You can’t script that!
Here’s another thing you can’t script:
At least I wouldn’t want to script it since it cost me a whole tube of mascara. I’m posting the more joyful pic here, but if you want to see how scary the whole incident really got, check out Neal’s post (spoiler alert: Heath Ledger is referenced).
And that is all.
Don't call us, we'll call you 
Holy cow, I would need at least a few more days to really think about those questions. Bravo for answering on the spot!
Comment by kei02003 — September 30, 2012 @ 1:47 pm
The suspect thing is that I talked for like 20 minutes and it looked like the note-taker wrote down many 3 or 4 words per question. I’m not sure all my waffling, I mean, nuance, was adequately captured.
Comment by llcall — October 1, 2012 @ 2:43 am
I would love to hear the conversation you had with them! And I had no idea that you owned mascara!
Comment by v. blanchard — October 1, 2012 @ 8:27 am
Isn’t it a moral absolute that women own mascara? I received it as a gift, actually, but I do wear it about once or twice a month.
Comment by llcall — October 1, 2012 @ 4:50 pm