Auto-SummaryThe author shares a personal anecdote about a heated argument with their communication technology teacher, who made a joke about their supposed problem with him in front of the class. The author responded by calling the teacher "ignorant" and comparing him to a tick that sucks energy from others. The teacher initially took it well, but later exploded in anger, storming out of the room and threatening to give the author a difficult schedule for the rest of the year. However, after a brief apology and reconciliation, the teacher revealed that he had been using humor to break down students' defenses and make them more approachable. The author came to understand that their teacher was trying to connect with them on a deeper level, and that their argument had actually brought them closer together. The post raises questions about the consequences and rewards of speaking one's mind, and whether being honest and open can sometimes lead to unexpected outcomes.
NOTE: After reading over this story, i realized it was quite lengthy. I also realized that it might not come off as strong as i had hoped. Oh well, i shall post it anyways.
Argumentation can be healthy in many aspects. You can release build-up inside yourself, and express yourself through a good debate. I consider all debates/discussion/arguments to be quite enlightening and healthy here at the shroomery. We are individuals trying to express our ideas and opinions, and hoping someone out there can relate to us and give us their view. But what are the reprecussions of a cold argument based on opinions? Reprecussion, or rewards?
Today has been a crazy day for myself. I've been a magnet for weird occurances. I'd like to share one with you. My communication Tech. teacher is a balding, portly fellow. His class consists of him sitting on the computer and making jokes about things, and people. The students basically do as they please, and do some actual work sometimes (jobs for teachers, or people who want jobs done...i.e. vynl, and t-shirt making). Well today, while i was listening to my cd player the teacher had asked me a question. He generally likes me, but he wont hesitate to joke of me. He asked something about What our problem between each other is, or do i know what our problem is or something, out-loud infront of the whole class. Im not sure on the exact conversation, because it was a bit lengthy. But the jist of it was as follows:
He asked our problem, i asked what problem, we went on like that. Somehow i got to the point where i was voicing my opinion about him. I said he was openly ignorant. I said i dont think he was truly ignorant, but was ignorant in some aspects. I said he was best described as a Tick. He liked to suck the energy from people, to make himself feel better, and give himself power. I also mentioned, notice how everyone gathers around you when class starts, its as if your some big-shot story teller and they are all sheep. He seemed to take it pretty well.
He went on to say something like, he thinks im openly ignorant. That i dont accept the views and opinions of everyone else. I dis-agreed with him, but i accepted his opinion. He also said something about me not knowing what its like to give-up anything, that i had everything free. I told him plainly, "I am 17 years old and i live on my own. I work 30 hours a week at a shitty job, so i can earn just enough to pay for my bills. no more, no less." We basically went back in forth, exactly like we do in the shroomery sometimes. I said to him, "sorry, this is just my opinion." Again, he seemed to take it pretty well. He said, "Nice talking with you keith". I said "you too." I thought that was the end of it. I felt analy-raped, but that was the end of it. 3 minutes later, he exploded. He got up and flipped his huge chair (chair had a full back and arm rests), it did a tumble or two and knocked into a computer. He stormed out of the room. About this time, i was shitting my pants. Everyone looked at him leave, then looked at me. People made comments like, "look what you did" and "holy crap. why'd you have to make him so mad". One kid even said, "I've been to this class a million times, and no one has EVER made him pissed." It was the truth, ive seen kids try and poke-fun at the teacher a million times, and nothing phazed him. A couple people went out to the hall to talk to him. One of my friends came back and told me, "your fucked. he said something like "i cant believe that fucker called me ignorant. Ive been carrying that bastard for 3 yrs in my classes. ill show him when he recieves a schedule change tomorrow. He'll have Agriculture the rest of the fucking year." Then he proceeded to pop 3 Xanex's. " I had to hide....The teacher made his way back in, and i avoided him and walked into the screen-printing room. It has no windows, and one revolving door. I was safe. My friend came in, and we we're burning a screen when the teacher walked in. He asked my friend to leave us. I was trapped. He was infront of the oscilating door. To make a long story short, i apologized and he apologized. He had realized that he became everything i said by getting angry. He valued my opinion and i valued his. We sat there talking about the world, people, and philosophy for about 15 minutes.
The POINT to my whole rambling is, that i didnt realize what he was doing. I was caught up on being judgemental. I wont do his story any justice by summarizing it, but the jist of it is: He made fun of everyone. Even himself. This is true. What he was doing was trying to break everyone down. Knock them off their pedestals. In high school, your not "cool" if your not this and that. He felt that if he made fun of everyone, even the popular kids, he would be breaking them in. So when the jochs or preps poked-fun at the magic-the-gathering kid, he would ragg the hell out of them. He admitted he came off as an asshole sometimes. <--like i said, i didnt do it justice.
In the end, i will try not to be judgemental, argue as much with people for the sake of me not knowing the inside story. He was obviously made fun of as a child, and joked about himself in-order for people to laugh and forget about making fun of him. I had touched on a touchy-subject of when he was a child. Probably a family problem or two, also. I dont know how much bad karma i recieved for this event today, but this is why i dont usually voice my opinion aloud. Although, i think the bond between the teacher and I will be stronger than ever. You could look at this as me gaining something from this event. An understanding between two people. So i have no idea if all the commotion that happened after our argument was a reprecussion, or a reward?
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