damn you, brain.

i don't know that i exactly brought my A Game to today's class. yes, the lecture was chock-fulla relevant data. yes, i did my best to explain health care reform in as much as i understand it. yes, it was hot as fuck in my classroom. but i let someone get away with texting (strike 1) and the baseball players in the back were too chatty and i didn't call them on it for a while (strike 2). and by the end i felt so self-conscious i thought i'd explode. one of my very conscientious students approached me after class to mention a radio show i might like, and also handed me a folded-up piece of paper, saying, "someone dropped this on the floor. i didn't want you to think it was mine." i left it alone, not wanting to look inside until alone in my office, but the whole walk back visions danced of its horrid contents. a back-and-forth written conversation about how much my class sucks? how bad a teacher i am? how fat i look in this outfit? i locked my office door behind me, took a deep breath and unfolded the paper ... to find a crumpled $10 bill someone had dropped on the floor of my classroom.