Outside the Movies
After watching a very disturbing movie, Incendies, on a Friday night, Lorraine (my beautiful wife) and I stepped into the lobby of the theater.
There he was! I had taken his course in philosophy and I recognized him immediately. He barely knew me, but after a short conversation it all came back to him. I was a student and he was the professor. It was about seven years ago.
His topic should have been explaining Hobbes, Locke and Jefferson, but all he spoke of was his disdain for George W. Bush. In the movie lobby, I said “A teacher should stick to the subject and keep personal prejudices out of his lectures.”
He said something that surprised and shocked me. “If a lecturer, teacher, professor feels very strongly about a subject, he is duty-bound to discuss it in class, even if it is far off the topic!”
I of course disagreed, and we had a less than cordial parting of the ways.
Question for my readers? E-mail me your opinions on this topic.
Next, out of the theater I spied another one of my mentors. This gentleman had taken me to lunch at his country club. He had purchased my book and we both had served as attendings at a local hospital.
He did not recognize me at all.
It was very sad and he reminded me that he was 85 years old. He was friendly and in good humor, and we wished each other well. I left sad and heartbroken at the fate of formerly a brilliant man.
Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks: Dallas has been among the also-rans in the National Basketball Association for many years. On Sunday, June 12 they became champions in the NBA by beating the Miami Heat in a six-game series.
Congrats also to owner Mark Cuban, an irascible techno-billionaire, and to the successful and brilliant coach Rick Carlisle. Their best player Dirk Nowitzki, a seven-foot-tall player born in Germany, was outstanding on the court. Every game was exciting.
