It's the meetings, not the teaching

that drive most college professors crazy. I was at a meeting today that made me want to quit my job. And how did we survive before Xanax? Oh, I know--by becoming alcoholics. Imagine Who's Afriad of Virginia Wolf if George and Martha were mellowed out on anti-anxiety prescriptions. No fun at all. But much more peacefu;.

But the teaching? Well, it's great. Most of the time, it's so enjoyable that I'd do it for free. Since I'd teach for free, that means I'm getting paid very well to endure contentious and unproductive meetings. And today's meeting would have been much more enjoyable had I remembered to bring my laptop. Our campus is one enormous WiFi hotspot; I could have been surfing the web and writing blog entries while looking like I was taking notes.

I just had to write something positive about my job before going to bed. My students are great. Interested, open, receptive, cooperative, earger to learn. And that's the thing to keep remembering, and not take for granted.