Overheard at 2:30 PM, finals week:
Student: Can I get the phone number of my Music Appreciation teacher?Secretary: Who is the teacher?
Student: Mr. Smith.
Secretary: He's not in today. I'll dial his home (!)
Student: (pause) Hello, Mr. Smith? Hi, I'm in your Music Appreciation class, and I wanted to make sure it was okay if I came in early to take the Final Exam tomorrow? (pause) tomorrow, yeah. (pause) My name is Scott Slacker. (pause) Scott Slacker. (pause) Music Appreciation (pause) I don't know the section number, but it meets on Monday and Wednesday at 3:30. (pause) Are you sure? (pause). Well, who does teach it? (pause) Oh, okay, sorry to bother you.
Student: (laughs) I think I had the wrong teacher. Is there a Mr. Jones that teaches Music Appreciation?
Secretary: Yes, would you like me to dial him at home? (!)
Student: Yeah, that would be great. (pause). Hello, Mr. Jones, this is Scott Slacker, from your Music Appreciation class, and I'd like to make sure it's okay if I come in early tomorrow morning to take the final, because I have to be at the airport to catch a plane, and it takes a couple hours to get there, so if it's okay with you, I'll just come in at 7:30, and take my final then. Thank your very much.
(Hangs up phone) I got his voicemail. Thanks for your help.
Secretary: You're welcome.
God only knows what will happen tomorrow morning. Clearly, this student is not a super-keener, as he doesn't know the name of his instructor, and hasn't made his plea in person ahead of time. It's hard to imagine being so naive and self-centered that you expect your instructor to come in an hour early (before dawn!) to accommodate your snowflake schedule, but the student seemed to think that the voicemail he left constituted agreement on the part of the instructor.
I'm tempted to come in early just to watch.
