One year when I was a VAP, the area had a massive storm. It wasn't so bad that the uni was closed, but it rained pretty hard overnight and early in the morning. Because said uni was in the middle of nowhere, I lived in the closest large town, about an hour's drive away, all through back roads with no shoulders or signs of life not on four legs. I had a 9:00 a.m. class that day, so I left at 7:00 and got there only about 15 minutes later than I normally would. A big paper was due that day in my 11:00 class, by which time the rain was nothing more than an annoying sprinkle.
Two best buds, both on the football team, didn't make it to that class or call in. They lived in the athletic dorm, which was not even a half mile from the building where we held class. They both tried to tell me they couldn't come in because the weather was too bad.
Yeah, I believed two football players were too delicate to walk out of the jock dorm in a sprinkle to traverse a distance not even as long as the field they play on.
There was one day when quite a bit of snow fell in the area where our little rural CC was located. It was not enough for a closure but the roads were quite bad.
Many of the students and faculty (me included) lived in a slightly larger town 20 miles up the road. I braved the trip and made it to campus in one piece. Several students were absent but I didn’t ding them due to the bad weather.
At the next class meeting Superflake informed me that he had been unable to come to class because of the weather situation. I told him I understood completely and asked if he lived in the slightly larger town up the road like me. He said “no, I’m in [Blank_Hall]”.
[Blank_Hall was the dorm directly across the street from the building in which the class was held.
I had a student who told me that (because of a thunderstorm) she "must have" unplugged her computer while she was sending me an email with her paper. This was on the heels of an Oscar-worthy lying marathon in which she told me "You didn't get it? I emailed it to you ... Oh, I must have sent it to the wrong address ... You want me to pull it up in my sent folder? Um, it's not there ... You want me to go to computer services to have them pull it up? Um..." 12 hours later: "I figured out what happened. I must have unplugged my computer as I was sending the email."
This is a bit of an inversion of your question, but I think it fits the spirit. So, it might be an urban legend, but I have heard from two people about one terribly snowy time in Vancouver. A city not particularly used to large dumps of snow got almost two feet in twenty-four hours. The president of U.B.C. came in on cross-country skies and said that if he could make it in, the university was open. I once walked fifty minutes through a snowstorm to make it to class and yes, I made damned sure something from that particular class was on the final exam.
I had a student who couldn't make it in for four days and couldn't email or let me know because she lived a ways out of town in a rural area, about 45 minutes by car, and there had been a fantastic snowstorm that had not only blocked the roads but brought down a tree on the power lines, so they were without power or water for 4 days and couldn't get out.
However, this was actually true. Not sure why I didn't say "and you call yourself a Canadian? Why didn't you strap on the skis?"
For me, it's always what catastrophe the weather causes. An inch of snow PILES UP on the car door, making it inaccessible.
ReplyDeleteHalf an inch of rain floods someone's ground level dorm room, RUINING an essay that was all printed and ready to be turned in.
I love the vague excuse of, "I'm sorry Professor Cal, but I can't come in today because of the weather."
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's sunny, rainy, cloudy. I guess they figure weather might be a code I'd understand.
It's raining men (followed, strangely, by 'hallelujah' and then a repetition of the original weather claim).
ReplyDeleteI would *totally* accept this one.
DeleteIf they sang this I'd accept it even more. :o) Hilarious!
DeleteOne year when I was a VAP, the area had a massive storm. It wasn't so bad that the uni was closed, but it rained pretty hard overnight and early in the morning. Because said uni was in the middle of nowhere, I lived in the closest large town, about an hour's drive away, all through back roads with no shoulders or signs of life not on four legs. I had a 9:00 a.m. class that day, so I left at 7:00 and got there only about 15 minutes later than I normally would. A big paper was due that day in my 11:00 class, by which time the rain was nothing more than an annoying sprinkle.
ReplyDeleteTwo best buds, both on the football team, didn't make it to that class or call in. They lived in the athletic dorm, which was not even a half mile from the building where we held class. They both tried to tell me they couldn't come in because the weather was too bad.
Yeah, I believed two football players were too delicate to walk out of the jock dorm in a sprinkle to traverse a distance not even as long as the field they play on.
There was one day when quite a bit of snow fell in the area where our little rural CC was located. It was not enough for a closure but the roads were quite bad.
ReplyDeleteMany of the students and faculty (me included) lived in a slightly larger town 20 miles up the road. I braved the trip and made it to campus in one piece. Several students were absent but I didn’t ding them due to the bad weather.
At the next class meeting Superflake informed me that he had been unable to come to class because of the weather situation. I told him I understood completely and asked if he lived in the slightly larger town up the road like me. He said “no, I’m in [Blank_Hall]”.
[Blank_Hall was the dorm directly across the street from the building in which the class was held.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI had a student who told me that (because of a thunderstorm) she "must have" unplugged her computer while she was sending me an email with her paper. This was on the heels of an Oscar-worthy lying marathon in which she told me "You didn't get it? I emailed it to you ... Oh, I must have sent it to the wrong address ... You want me to pull it up in my sent folder? Um, it's not there ... You want me to go to computer services to have them pull it up? Um..." 12 hours later: "I figured out what happened. I must have unplugged my computer as I was sending the email."
ReplyDeleteThis is a bit of an inversion of your question, but I think it fits the spirit. So, it might be an urban legend, but I have heard from two people about one terribly snowy time in Vancouver. A city not particularly used to large dumps of snow got almost two feet in twenty-four hours. The president of U.B.C. came in on cross-country skies and said that if he could make it in, the university was open. I once walked fifty minutes through a snowstorm to make it to class and yes, I made damned sure something from that particular class was on the final exam.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a lie if the student wants to believe it.
ReplyDeleteI had a student who couldn't make it in for four days and couldn't email or let me know because she lived a ways out of town in a rural area, about 45 minutes by car, and there had been a fantastic snowstorm that had not only blocked the roads but brought down a tree on the power lines, so they were without power or water for 4 days and couldn't get out.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this was actually true. Not sure why I didn't say "and you call yourself a Canadian? Why didn't you strap on the skis?"