A tale of two classes

Tuesday:

The old, white math professor who teaches in the classroom before me did not release his students at 10:50, as he is supposed to. He did not release them at 11:00, when my class starts. At 11:05, I entered my classroom to find a room full of students, fast asleep, and the old, white math professor silently working on a problem on the whiteboard. When I informed him that I needed the room, his students stirred and made for the door, but he pointed at me and said, “I need to finish this problem.”

His students left.

He went back to work.

The old, white math professor continued to work at the far end of my classroom until 11:30, at which point he took out a notebook and copied what he’d written on the whiteboard. At 11:40 he noisily collected his books and markers and strode out of the room without a word.

This is because the old, white math professor is an asshole.

Thursday:

The old, white math professor again refused to leave the room at 10:50, so today I the dashing young lecturer walked up to the podium and began to prepare for his class. He asked the old, white math professor if he was almost finished, but received no response.

At 11:00 a.m., the old, white math professor picked up an eraser to correct some minor mistake on the whiteboard, at which point the dashing young lecturer smiled broadly, politely asked the old, white math professor if he needed help and, without waiting for a reply, promptly began erasing the entire whiteboard.

The old, white math professor stared in horror at the dashing young lecturer — who hopes he didn’t erase the cure for cancer, but is otherwise extremely pleased with himself.