Kids Today
posted by Sybil Vane
Like, Dave Perry, I actually hate when people express a "kids today" sentiment. [I, like, Dave, especially hate it when the sentiment comes from someone who has built a career complaining about how kids don't read enough words, how they read too many words and not enough faces, and how they don't work enough part-time jobs. But I digress. I started writing a whole post about how dumb these recent pieces are, but it made me so cranky I had to beg off.]
And yet. Every new semester tends to bring with it some "kids today"moments. Mine came today, when, after noticing that most of my first-year students were writing "Mrs. Vane" in the headers of their papers, I wrote Mrs. Miss and Ms. on the board and asked what they signified. Dear reader, I shit you not, not 1 out of 25 was able (or willing) to tell me the right answer. Most of them thought they knew, for sure. But they thought they knew that "Mrs. means married, Miss means not married, and Ms. means a widow." That one got a lot of support. Also popular was "Mrs. means old, Miss means young, and Ms means in your 20s." (which, leblanc points out, can be more or less true, but still)
So I explained to them the various terms and offered the tip that they should always go with Ms, for the sake of professionalism and non-assumptive behavior. And then a kid raised his hand and said, "But you never told us whether you were married, so how are we supposed to know what to call you?" Never mind that this TOTALLY misses the point I had just laid out, the part that kills me is the way this suggests that perhaps I should have started class by announcing, "Good day, I am Sybil Vane and by the way I HAVE a HUSBAND." As though I ought start all conversations that way, in fact. Which, I suppose, if I wore my wedding rings, I would be doing.
So, I'll just stop the story there instead of going into the unflattering way I then yelled at the kid about how he should call me Dr. just like it says on the syllabus. In conclusion, please provide college-aged kids around you with a PSA about the various titles for women because they seem to be know nothing slackers.
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Speaking of PSAs, how horrifying is this shit? I won't even embed it because it ruined my whole morning. The message is very important, but still. Shit is gruesome in the UK.
By request, edited to add a "dead baby warning" w/r/t the PSA. Thought honestly given my description of it as gruesome and the title of the PSA itself, I'm not sure what you were expecting.
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Speaking of nothing else I am writing about, can I swoon for a moment about how much I love Heather Armstrong? Whatever, it's not cool, I know, but this entry is so classic dooce, and such a kickass story anyway and she's out there making bank writing about the normalcy of mental illness and parenting hell and the joys of kids and promoting artists and writers and so on. So I just felt like saying fuck the haters, that's all.
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Speaking of kids today, Ponyo? Is awesome. Also speaking of kids today, part of the reason this is all over the place is the fact that I have one. Today. And every day. In addition to a new job with a 4/4 load and a commuting husband and a mother-in-law who is staying with me and cooking. I've been up today since 4, when Mr V left to head back to his commuting town for the week and I had to stay at work long enough to avoid having dinner cooked for me, so I've been eating frozen grapes and drinking beer since I got home and am, frankly, a little light headed. I do swear t be a better blogger, especially with reflections about new job and junior faculty first year life, in the coming weeks.
And yet. Every new semester tends to bring with it some "kids today"moments. Mine came today, when, after noticing that most of my first-year students were writing "Mrs. Vane" in the headers of their papers, I wrote Mrs. Miss and Ms. on the board and asked what they signified. Dear reader, I shit you not, not 1 out of 25 was able (or willing) to tell me the right answer. Most of them thought they knew, for sure. But they thought they knew that "Mrs. means married, Miss means not married, and Ms. means a widow." That one got a lot of support. Also popular was "Mrs. means old, Miss means young, and Ms means in your 20s." (which, leblanc points out, can be more or less true, but still)
So I explained to them the various terms and offered the tip that they should always go with Ms, for the sake of professionalism and non-assumptive behavior. And then a kid raised his hand and said, "But you never told us whether you were married, so how are we supposed to know what to call you?" Never mind that this TOTALLY misses the point I had just laid out, the part that kills me is the way this suggests that perhaps I should have started class by announcing, "Good day, I am Sybil Vane and by the way I HAVE a HUSBAND." As though I ought start all conversations that way, in fact. Which, I suppose, if I wore my wedding rings, I would be doing.
So, I'll just stop the story there instead of going into the unflattering way I then yelled at the kid about how he should call me Dr. just like it says on the syllabus. In conclusion, please provide college-aged kids around you with a PSA about the various titles for women because they seem to be know nothing slackers.
*******************
Speaking of PSAs, how horrifying is this shit? I won't even embed it because it ruined my whole morning. The message is very important, but still. Shit is gruesome in the UK.
By request, edited to add a "dead baby warning" w/r/t the PSA. Thought honestly given my description of it as gruesome and the title of the PSA itself, I'm not sure what you were expecting.
*******************
Speaking of nothing else I am writing about, can I swoon for a moment about how much I love Heather Armstrong? Whatever, it's not cool, I know, but this entry is so classic dooce, and such a kickass story anyway and she's out there making bank writing about the normalcy of mental illness and parenting hell and the joys of kids and promoting artists and writers and so on. So I just felt like saying fuck the haters, that's all.
********************
Speaking of kids today, Ponyo? Is awesome. Also speaking of kids today, part of the reason this is all over the place is the fact that I have one. Today. And every day. In addition to a new job with a 4/4 load and a commuting husband and a mother-in-law who is staying with me and cooking. I've been up today since 4, when Mr V left to head back to his commuting town for the week and I had to stay at work long enough to avoid having dinner cooked for me, so I've been eating frozen grapes and drinking beer since I got home and am, frankly, a little light headed. I do swear t be a better blogger, especially with reflections about new job and junior faculty first year life, in the coming weeks.
Posted at 5:03 PM
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