Encounter Number 1 - Let me set the stage for you, the freshmen class I teach was involved in a service project at a local church. They were hosting a banquet and we volunteered to help set up, serve and clean up. An acquaintance of mine was in attendance and while we were cleaning up, she pulled me aside and quietly asked if she could ask me a personal question. "Sure" I said weakly, "I think you have a problem with your thyroid" she said bluntly. Okay,first THAT was not a question and second, how rude! After I got over my initial shock, I did share with her that I am in fact being treated for thyroid disease. "Well" she said "you might want to get your levels checked because your eyes are bulging and your right eye is a lot worse than your left." Thanks for that! I spent the rest of the night staring at myself in the mirror and judging the size of my bulging eyes. Here's a picture of me and my left eye. I'm so ashamed of my bulging right eye I've decided to wear a patch and refer to myself as Ahab.
Encounter Number 2 - I'm sitting in my office and my assistant Kathy shares with me there's a dad on the phone who wants to talk about career counseling for his daughter. I don't particularly enjoy phone calls from parents, I consider college students to be adults and feel that if they need my help they should ask for it themselves. So dad explains that his daughter is not a student, nor a an alum of the college, but that they live close to campus and that his daughter really needs some career counseling. I explain that my plate is full, he then goes on to tell me that his daughter really needs career advice and that she will be in town over Christmas. "She doesn't live here?" I ask. No she lives on her own, she's 48 years old. What? I think dad is the one who needs help.
