1. Attendance in WR 115 was down today. I responded with jollity. One of my students said, "Wow! Not many people here today." And I said, "Yeah. And you know what? You'll get my best instruction no matter what the turnout for class." Then I impressed her and the others with a Glenn Exum story about when he went to see a jazz combo at the Cd'A Athletic Round Table and only few people showed up because of a snowstorm and, in Exum's words, the combo, "Played for us as if we were in Carnegie Hall." He emphasized again and again that when performing or teaching or preaching in church, you never put out less effort or slack off because of a poor turnout. And, so, today, I gave the handful of students who attended class my best energy and my best instruction. I never once mentioned the absent students and I dealt with each student who came individually, joked with them, encouraged them, and sent them home, ready to finish Thursday's project. It was as if class occurred in Carnegie Hall. Ha!
2. The Deke and I went out on the town tonight. First we each had a bowl of soup at Billy Mac's and we shot the breeze with John, witnessed Amber's bunny rabbit drama, got to see and talk and laugh with Pam and Michael, and visited with Eileen. Something huge happened when we saw Brian. When he lived in Texas and did a little DJ work, Brian knew the woman who, when she lived in Glen Ellyn, was like a mother to the Deke. When the Deke realized that Brian knew this hugely important person in her life, she was staggered, nearly speechless, almost in tears: in short, deeply moved.
3. We gathered ourselves in the Billy Mac's parking lot and went downtown to the First National Taphouse and met up with the Senior Troxstar Warden and yakked away, moving adroitly between the serious and the absurd and had a grand time.
No comments:
Post a Comment