Not Cool, C___. Not Cool.

Today I gave the students in both sections of my class most of the day off, obliging them only to take a few minutes to fill out the college's old-fashioned paper evaluation forms. When evaluations are done in this manner, the instructor must enlist a student volunteer to collect the forms after everyone is finished and deliver them to some administrative building for processing. The goal is to avoid the instructor having any contact with the forms until after they've been processed.

I was pleased when my student C____ raised her hand to volunteer for this job. She's a nice girl, if a tad flighty (she comes to class late everyday, and tends to stare out the window through lecture); I didn't think this was going to be a problem. On my way out the door I realized that I needed someone to deliver the department's pencils back to me, and, because my building is in the opposite direction of the one C____ would have to go to, I asked for another volunteer to take care of the pencils' return. Glad I was again, when P____, a very reliable Afghan/Iraq war vet, volunteered to do this.

About 30 minutes later, I sat waiting in my office for P_____ and the pencils. What was taking him so long--my building was only across the quad from the classroom?  When he did show up, he had a tale to tell.

According to P______, C_____ was one of the first people to finish her evaluation. Upon completion, she got up and handed him her form. And then she left the classroom. The rest of the class looked up from what they were doing and watched in awe as she casually forgot that she had just pledged to take care of the forms. In her absence, the remaining members of the class discussed who would follow through on making sure the forms were delivered, and P_____ agreed to take care of it. He ended up having to walk from one end of campus to the other to complete the challenge.

Having finished this amusing story, P______ had one question for me, "What was she thinking?" Our shared best guess, "That's what happens when you come to class stoned." The funny thing is that in the other section, the guy who frequently smells like Otto's jacket, volunteered to deliver the forms for me, too. Who knows if they made it to their destination?

One more class to go and I am done!