Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wholly Anecdotal Sign of the Education Apocalypse
In a taxi on the way to the Miami airport yesterday, talking to the driver, a part-time student at Florida International University, 25 years old, working on an accounting degree, family came to the U.S. from Dubai, born and raised in Miami. Seems perfectly nice, reasonably smart, etc. Asks me where I'm from: Washington, DC, I answer. The capital, right? he asks. How's George Bush? Then he remarks: My sister lives there, her boyfriend was transferred to Seattle. There are two Washingtons, I remind him. Right, right, he says--I always get that confused. So it's cold up there now, right, not all hot and humid like here? Because you're so close to Canada?
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4 comments:
That reminds me of a class I took in International Relations in undergrad. Our professor gave us a simple ten point quiz on the first day to "get us off on the right foot." The quiz was a map of the world and we simply had to label the continents and oceans. In the middle of the quiz the kid sitting next to me leaned over and whispered, "Where's Africa?" Thinking he was just kidding (or an idiot) I pointed to Russia. He actually wrote it in.
At least he never asked me to cheat again...
I swear, half the time I mention I'm from West Virginia, I get a reaction like "Oh, I have family in Richmond!"
Now, now. At least he knows that there is a Washington that's close to Canada and that Canada is in the north.
Miami is a foreign country, right?
Family came from the US from Dubai? What are they, nuts?
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