Joseph

In relatively recent history, I had an experience I do not believe I shall ever forget.  

Our class entered our Physics classroom much as we would any day.  Throughout the room were tables where we sat–dividing us into groups.  I was sitting at my usual spot, at my usual table, with the usual other two people who sit at that table, when we saw an unusual piece of paper lying on the table’s surface.

The paper was small and crammed with writing.  The tiny calligraphy took up every hair-width of the paper, using the small parchment as economically as possible–as if its author wished to scribe the bible on a post-it.  

Even my naive self knows what a cheat-sheet is.  

My first reaction was to laugh.  Not because I find cheating humorous, but rather because of the foolishness of this particular cheater.  They were apparently successful in compromising their own integrity without being caught, but then they left the evidence behind to be found later.  Priceless.  

What I will never forget, however, is the reaction of the teacher when he found out.  He did not breathe out threats of vile punishments or go on about giving a zero to the culprit.  In fact, he did not become angry at all.  As he learned of the cheat-sheet, he demonstrated one of the greatest looks of complete disappointment I have ever seen.  

This reinforced my already strong knowledge that cheating really isn’t worth it.  

I suppose I should write something, so as to make my blog not such a barren place.  It is interesting that my first post should be on a computer that I rarely use–it resides in the dining room of my aunt and uncle’s house. 

My over-sensitive conscience leaves my mind running about an instance that happened in Office Max today, from which trip I have just returned.  While Mom and Rachel shopped at various other places, I was dropped off at Office Max where I looked around for a while.  I was looking at the mice (plastic things, normally associated with computers–not liitle, fuzzy creatures that hawks, and various other birds of prey eat) when a particular mouse caught my eye. 

The mouse was flat, thin, and arched so only the front and back of the mouse was touching the counter.  The mouse also had the ability to fold, so as to make it more portable.  I was seeing how the mouse worked and such, and testing how it felt to use it. 

It seemed to me that the way I hold a mouse would make the mouse just as practical to use when folded as it was when open.  So I folded it, and slid it a little way on the counter. 

It then occured to me that it might not be good for the mouse to be used in this way, so I folded it back over and put it back in place.  As I did so, I noticed part of the word “Microsoft” was rubbed off, as it would normally after being used for a while.  It is this that bothers me.  I contemplated telling one of the employees, but decided I was just being stupid–it could have been that way before I even touched the thing, and the mouse is made to be played with seeing as it’s a display. 

Well, there’s no use worrying over it now–I probably won’t be in that store again for a long time, and by then it will probably be long gone. 

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a book called The World is Flat.  It is a great book about how the electronic age has made it possible to, for example, send a CAT scan to India, have a doctor there analyze it (who has had proper licensing and such), and then send the results back.  Some hospitals actually do this, especially during night hours when doctors here are off duty, and it is conveniently day time in India.  Interesting book. 

Well, there it is.  My first blog post.  A confession and a poor book report.  How exciting.  Whoo : )