Tuesday, August 15, 2006
The Paper Balloon
Well, the power was out at my house a couple of nights ago and I needed to print my syllabi out so I went over to my Sis-in-law's house to use their computer. While I'm printing stuff out my 3 year old niece was watching and asking about what I was doing.
RM: "What are you doing?"
Me: "I'm printing out stuff for my students."
RM: "Wow, you have a lot of students."
(I was printing a dozen pages or so)
Me: "Yep, I sure do."
RM: "How big are they?"
Me: "They're about 17 years old."
(not a satisfactory answer)
RM: "How big are they?"
Me: "They're a little shorter than me."
(ah, that's what she wanted to know)
She thinks hard for a second. Then she runs to her room calling over her shoulder: "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."
She runs back with a paper balloon tied to a length of yarn.
RM: "Here you go. You can give this to your students. They will like it very much."
I bet they will. I put it on my front wall.
RM: "What are you doing?"
Me: "I'm printing out stuff for my students."
RM: "Wow, you have a lot of students."
(I was printing a dozen pages or so)
Me: "Yep, I sure do."
RM: "How big are they?"
Me: "They're about 17 years old."
(not a satisfactory answer)
RM: "How big are they?"
Me: "They're a little shorter than me."
(ah, that's what she wanted to know)
She thinks hard for a second. Then she runs to her room calling over her shoulder: "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."
She runs back with a paper balloon tied to a length of yarn.
RM: "Here you go. You can give this to your students. They will like it very much."
I bet they will. I put it on my front wall.
