THE NOTE

I remember my first day of Intro to Philosophy quite distinctly. The classroom was packed. Joe White is a very popular philosophy professor at Santa Barbara City College and people were sitting on the steps going up the rows of desks because there were not enough seats for everyone. Joe White said "I will not tolerate tardiness. It is the rudest thing you can do. It is like saying F___ You to my face. If this class is not worth your time, then don't come. I will not accept late papers for any excuses. If you are going to be late for class, you better have stopped to save a bus full of nuns that had caught on fire. Otherwise, don't come."

That, my friends, is exactly how I feel about my students not showing up for dinner on time (or at all.) Imagine you are a guest in someone's house, visiting for a week or two, and they tell you "I'm going to make you a delicious dinner at 6 o'clock tonight." And then you go shopping and don't come back until 8 o'clock. You. Are. Rude.

Almost every night I have a student who does that to me. Mainly it is Michel, the French student. Sometimes it is Jimmy, the Taiwanese. I always tell my students "Remember, if you can't make it to dinner, please leave a note for me." Some students are always good at doing that. I appreciate that because then I know if should be cooking for three people or six people.

Also, I have students washing dishes one night a week. Just once a week! Thirty minutes and you are done for six whole days. These are the only two things I ask of my students. Show up for dinner and wash your dishes.

When a student doesn't wash the dishes they start to pile up fast in the sink and then we are working with limited supplies. I only have so many pots and pans and forks and knives. With seven people in the house, those things get used up quickly. So when Michel didn't wash the dishes one night, I told him to just make sure he washes them before dinner the next day. Well, when I came home the next day and nothing had changed, ohhhhhhhhhh you better believe I was not happy. I wrote him a note that went something like this:

"Michel, if you do not wash the dishes tonight I will call EF (his school) and ask them to move you to another house. Phil"

Voilá! The next morning the sink was spotless. Now I know how my parents might have felt all these years.