Wherever two or three professors are gathered together today there in the midst of them will be this question: "Have you taught yet?" And then the follow-up: "How'd it go?"
It's almost a ritual, this formulaic question summing up the values of the community. I may have attended meetings or responded to messages or read or written or researched, but if I haven't taught yet, I haven't entered the Promised Land.
In any gathering of professors who have taught, the question produces an eruption of anecdote, complaint, and gossip, leaving those who have not taught (yet) with nothing to say--sort of like the sole childless person in a room full of new parents, or the sole celibate on a swingers' cruise. Any given professor might possess a fount of knowledge and experience, but he's innocent and ignorant if he has not taught yet.
Have I taught yet? Yes, and it felt great to stand in front of that sea of faces and talk about literature. Two cell phones rang noisily, giving me an opportunity to exercise the steely glare of disapproval that rarely gets used over break. There's a large waiting list for that class, so I tried to scare a few students away by making them write about poetry--on the first day of class! Now I can't wait to read their comments.
And I'd like to read yours too. Have you taught yet? How'd it go?
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