under the influence

I walk into a bar. Someone I don’t ever remember seeing before comes up to me and stumbles through something resembling, “Hey, you’re in the Edo/Tokyo class, aren’t you?” I confirm this and he says, “Yeah, I thought so. You know, I almost dropped that class because of you.” Oh really? Do explain. “I heard you asking for extra readings in Japanese after the first day and I thought, I can’t do that kind of work. If I’m supposed to ask for more work, in Japanese no less, there’s no way I could take that class.” I told him to rest his fears because I am a graduate student who is required to ask for extra work, and he should not drop such an incredibly easy class just because of something he overheard. He was relieved by my words, and ambled off happily to have more beer.

And I thought, isn’t it amazing what power I have over the young minds!