thirteen: the unprofessional professor

When I first met you, you were somewhat of a bitter divorcee. Maybe you would not classify yourself as such, but when you bring up your ex-wife every lecture there must still be an unresolved underlying issue. You were definitely an odd looking man with your glass eye and cigarette stained nails. Looks aside, you were a pretty decent professor, just enough sarcastic humour to keep the class awake.

While I would not consider you the best professor I've ever had, I genuinely liked you and found you easy enough to talk to. You were definitely an asset to have as an advisor for a case competition I did last year. But then this year happened, and you chose to behave like a kid in junior high. You would think we'd be able to work together despite you ruining any chances of a normal student-teacher relationship with your inappropriate behaviour. Please remember for the future that inviting a student to your house is almost grounds for sexual harassment, especially when meeting at school is an available option. 7am phone calls are also not welcomed.

The line was crossed when you chose to slander my team to my peers. That is the equivalent of me trashing you when talking to other professors. I thought I could over look most of your blunders, but after hearing that this slandering goes beyond a one time experience I chose to draw the line. Some professionalism would be appreciated. How do you tell a full grown man to grow up? Well a letter to the head of the department detailing all the inappropriate behaviour is a start, and truly I hope it will help you smarten up. Maybe bullying your way around has gotten you where you are, but it has to stop now.

twelve: falling out

As my time at university draws to a close, it seems appropriate to do some reflection of the past 21 years. Today a sad event really sticks out in my mind, probably because this upcoming Tuesday marks our last ever friends lunch date. There's been an empty seat for quite some time now, considering it always used to be the 4 of us. I suppose even though we'd all seen each other through the awkward phases of growing up, sometimes people just grow apart. And it finally seems we've hit that point of no return, because as weird as it is that we rarely see each other any more it would probably be even weirder if you came waltzing back into my life.

I'm sure we'd have plenty of stories to tell about our past, getting a fobby haircut, random days out at the park, eating McDonald's breakfast super early in the morning, sitting outside of 7-11 like a bunch of hobos. Somewhere along the way we stopped creating stories... and we are where we are today. Strangers with a history. Things can change, but it seems with the 4 of us all moving in our own directions wishing that things could go back to how they used to be is futile. At least I have the picture on my desk to remind me of the last little bit of normal we had, you guys were just what I needed for my birthday that year. Friends to pick me up after I was stuck in a puddle of wallowing ugliness.

If there has ever been a falling out in my life I would describe as normal, this would be the closest thing. I'm sure one day when you achieve all that is that you're chasing for I'll read your name somewhere and smile and think to myself 'I knew that guy.'