thoughtjunkie

So, on Thursday, I have to miss teaching my class because of a work-related mandatory meeting on the other side of the island. The meeting is to plan for a Language and Culture Festival next Saturday.

My coteacher is supposed to go to the meeting too, so she doesn't have to cover the class by herself (like she will do on Friday, when Jei, Tom, and myself fly to Seoul. She, however, won't be able to attend the language festival, so I said,

"You could just play hookey."
"Play hookey?" She asked.
"Do you know what playing hookey is? Oh man! Playing hookey has a long and illustrious career in American culture. It's what we do," I said. I started to write 'Play Hookey' on the board.
"Ah! Aah! Play Hookey! Yes, I know this!" Then a pause as the thought turned over in her mind. "You mean skip? I could skip?"
I shrugged. "Sure, why not? You can't go to the festival anyway."
What followed, I can only describe as a laugh of pure revelation and joy. It was more than a little goofy, and given the circumstances, adorable. It came out of her like, "Ahoohoohohaha!"
It is very strange to me, that skipping out on a meaningless activity could be seen as a novel idea. Even stranger that I think she sees it as a rebel activity. A harmless rebellion, like dying your hair purple at age 12 or listening to rap music in the 90s-- trivial in its risk, and yet bold and exciting.

It reminded me--indulge this nerdiness for a moment-- of when my parents and I had a theoretical discussion on the corruption of Hobbits by The One Ring (Yes, this post got that nerdy that fast-- you've met me before. You should have seen this coming).
"The One Ring could have corrupted any of the Hobbits, but they could only have been as powerful as their wisdom allowed them to be," my Dad said.
"Why? That doesn't make sense," I'd said.
"Look," my mom entered the conversation, strange in that she rarely indulges in arguments of this genre. "Sure, they would have been corrupted, but if all a Hobbit knows is Hobbiton, then he or she would think, 'You mean, with this ring, I can have unlimited power? You mean like... I can be Mayor? FOREVER?!'"

I know someone who got teargassed and peppersprayed when she charged a blockade in DC, during an anti-war protest. My coteacher gets excited over not attending a meeting that has no bearing on her.

Mayor forever indeed!