Wednesday, Dec. 01, 2004
Fine, you're reading ancient mariner alone then, posted at 12:13 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Today, my juniors were being such jerks that I stood there for a full nine minutes waiting for them to shut up. Every time the room almost got quiet, some idiot would open his or her mouth again. I do not yell in school. I do not show anger. But, boy, was I ever angry. My classroom neighbor is known for going ballistic about once a year. He's a mild-mannered guy otherwise, but he goes ballistic once a year. I think I need to perfect that.Today, I simply said something like, "Fine, if you all won't shut up, you're going to read The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner yourself. Questions #1-13 on page 704 are due at the end of class. Good luck."
The weirdest thing is, they worked all period on it. I guess this class just cannot handle a teacher in front of them. They need an assignment. I'll be really interested to read their responses, though. I can't imagine they're going to be brilliant. I'll be happy if they got most of the plot on the first reading.
Anyhow, it was one of those days that at school that I couldn't wait to end. It's only Tuesday and it feels like I lived a whole week there already. It was also a restaurant night.
I had a decent night there. It started off slowly, and I was able to read a chapter of the Odyssey. Then, we got a nice little pop and I ended up walking away with $65. Even better news for me was seeing this nice couple who hadn't been in in months. I had asked them if it was their first time, and they said that, no, they come often and that, in fact, I had been their waiter a few times before. Instantly it clicked in my head that they were the table that months ago I had added incorrectly, forgetting to charge them for a $10 glass of Hess Estate Zinfindel. Well, I found myself telling them this story. I felt tacky about it afterwards, but I think I told it with enough self-deprecation for it to work. And it did. The guy reached into his pocket and gave me the $10. So, in reality, I walked with $75 more than I had going in. Not too shabby.
I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Melissa Ferrick and Stephen Kellogg are tomorrow night. Lighting of the monument is Thursday. It's going to be a busy week, but it starts getting good from this point on.