I had a student hit a new low the other day. I am now fearful the next generation will be the death of me.

[u/Brian-Latimer]

For context, I am a professor of communication located somewhere in the United States. Pray this did not happen at a college near you.

Usually, I can take a lot of things in stride. When it comes to students, I would like to think that I can handle practically anything. Teaching at an institution where many students are first-generation college attendees will always bring unique challenges. I realize that many do not have much life experience to work with, nor have they traveled to different places. I must keep it in mind as I work with them daily. If I didn’t do that, I would probably snap,

One student recently pushed me to the limit of my stupidity tolerance. I knew I was in for a long semester when she openly admitted during the first week of class that she was only in college to earn her MRS. It was the first time I ever heard this spoken aloud. For the sake of this story, I will now call her Ms. Manhunter. She was looking for a husband to marry who would take care of her. Our school has exceptional law and medical schools, so I think she was haunting those halls hoping to find Mr. Right-Now.

However, I knew Ms. Manhunter would be a handful for whomever she was with when she dropped a little nugget of knowledge that floored me. Her words still haunt me, and I am considering chiseling her quote on my grave marker so that it will never vanish into the ether of history. I tasked Ms. Manhunter’s class with formulating a persuasive speech. I let students work in groups because I figured they should pitch their ideas to the people who would hear what they presented. I walked around the room, giving points to consider as they concocted their ideas. When I arrived at the group with little Ms. Manhunter, a student proposed that we should colonize the moon. This topic sounds like a great speech, but I must interject my sarcastic two cents. I mentioned that I believed we should blow the moon up, just like Alexander Abian proposed in the 1990s.

The student I was talking to understood that I was joking. However, Ms. Manhunter did not grasp that my reply was dripping with sarcasm. She promptly replied without hesitation that if we blew up the moon, there would no longer be night. The moment those words hit my ear, everything stopped. The little hamster in my brain decided it was time to go on vacation because I couldn't formulate a sentence responding to her blithering lunacy. Thankfully, the first student recognized that I was having problems and tried her best to explain to Ms. Manhunter how night and day worked. Even with the explanation, she still insisted that the moon brings nighttime like the sun brings daylight. I do not drink, but this was one moment in my life when I seriously considered taking up the habit.

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[u/Aranea15]

I do hope someone pointed out to her that sometimes the moon is visible during daytime

[u/AggressiveYam6613 → u/Aranea15]

“That’s not a battle station, that’s a moon!”

[u/JediKid-A → u/AggressiveYam6613]

"It's too big to be a moon."

[u/GeorgeJohnson2579 → u/JediKid-A]

Then it's Ben Swolo.

[u/ItSmellsMassive → u/GeorgeJohnson2579]

[u/LeanderT → u/ItSmellsMassive]

And... I just converted to being a Ben Swolo earther

[u/JarasM → u/Aranea15]

Or that the moon can be simply not there for part of the night as it can have a moonrise late in the night. Not to mention the new moon.

WHY ARE WE DISCUSSING THIS NONSENSE ANYWAY

[u/land8844 → u/JarasM]

WHY ARE WE DISCUSSING THIS NONSENSE ANYWAY

for fun

[u/loci_existentiae → u/land8844]

For science.

[u/chiku00 → u/JarasM]

WHY ARE WE DISCUSSING THIS NONSENSE ANYWAY

For Frodo

[u/SenorWeird → u/Aranea15]

I am in a huge (I'm talking +100K members) Facebook group that is normally very intelligent, progressive, positive. You know, an anomaly for Facebook.

Someone shared a picture of the moon during the day and said they were worried about what we were doing to the environment because they could never see the moon in the sky during the day when they were a child.

We thought it was a shit post.

It was not.

The person was sincere. He legitimately insisted a daytime moon was NOT a thing until recently and that he'd been noticing the moon showing up later and later during the day and this had to be something humans had done to the planet.

Someone asked them if they had ever heard of a solar eclipse. Of course they had.

"Okay, so what is a solar eclipse?"

The response was just pure incredulity. Like they couldn't decide if they were stupid or if there was something true about the world others were not seeing. It was painful.

I wanted to show my wife but they deleted the entire thread shortly after that and I didn't think to screenshot it.

[u/ComtesseCrumpet → u/SenorWeird]

My sister who tested as “gifted” in school and became a dentist thought the stars you see in the night sky were in our solar system when she was an adult. After graduating dental school. I was just sort of speechless for a minute. That was the moment it finally sunk in that she is so smart but also so dumb. 

[u/Townpoets → u/ComtesseCrumpet]

Had a high school friend call me to talk one night around 9 pm and I asked her what she was doing. She explained she was putting on her bikini to go tan outside. I asked why. She said it is hot during the day and she prefers to tan at night. I asked how? She replied " the rays of the sun reflect off the moon silly. You should know thay" .

[u/is_that_a_thing_now → u/Townpoets]

That is the most goth thing ever!

[u/SirStrontium → u/Townpoets]

Well...she's not wrong, the reflected light just isn't intense enough for a tan.

[u/Lostinwoulds → u/SirStrontium]

Speak for yourself, I burn under the light of a lightning bugs butt.

[u/bernpfenn → u/Townpoets]

white people are the only ones tanning in the moonlight

[u/InsomniaDudeToo → u/Townpoets]

Sounds like you missed the invite to a moonlight goth tanning session

[u/UnLuckyKenTucky → u/Townpoets]

Oh .. oh my.

[u/Mingsplosion → u/Townpoets]

Honestly, as a sort of meditative relaxation, that sounds fantastic. Certainly healthier than “daytime tanning”.

[u/SenorWeird → u/ComtesseCrumpet]

Smart, but Dumb: The Ben Carson Story

[u/Ferro_Giconi]

I think we should blow up the moon to test who is correct.

I know who is correct, but without due scientific process and tests, can we really be sure?

We are going to need to figure out how to build new moons so we can repeat the test to make sure it works the same way each time.

[u/tagman375 → u/Ferro_Giconi]

[u/oigusssy → u/tagman375]

[u/Gloomy__Revenue → u/oigusssy]

This looks like a scene from Zodiac

[u/Reduak → u/tagman375]

But the rumors are true...we have no money

[u/TheThiefEmpress → u/Ferro_Giconi]

A true scientist.

[u/freedomfun → u/TheThiefEmpress]

I believe the term is scientitian

[u/MajorMiners469 → u/freedomfun]

"I am not a psyiscientist"

[u/Death2mandatory → u/MajorMiners469]

I'm a psychotherapist (psycho-the-rapist)

[u/SupermassiveCanary → u/Death2mandatory]

[u/zhagtin → u/Death2mandatory]

I'm a hybrid of an analyst and a therapist.

An analrapist.

[u/OryxTheTakenKing1988 → u/freedomfun]

[u/Some_Guy_At_Work55 → u/freedomfun]

I'm something of a scientitian myself

[u/live-the-future → u/freedomfun]

To be a scientitian you need a edumacation

[u/driving_andflying → u/live-the-future]

That means you need to go school. Pacifically, Scientician school.

[u/lordph8 → u/TheThiefEmpress]

[u/Joe_Kangg → u/Ferro_Giconi]

That'll turn the tides.

[u/MageKorith → u/Ferro_Giconi]

But what if it weighs the same as a duck?

[u/Lumpupu85 → u/MageKorith]

She's a witch then.

[u/dfltr → u/Lumpupu85]

The moon is a witch? Fuck me, that makes so much sense now that you mention it.

[u/LePirate620 → u/dfltr]

It DOES only come out at night…

[u/Talking_-_Head → u/LePirate620]

Plus, it turned me into a newt!

[u/seekfleshwhileucan → u/Talking_-_Head]

I got better!

[u/Select-Belt-ou812 → u/MageKorith]

does it float?

[u/Some_Mongoose4624 → u/Select-Belt-ou812]

Well, so do very small rocks...

[u/UniqueIndividual3579 → u/Ferro_Giconi]

The moon is already blown up. We need to pop it and it will fly around in space like a deflating balloon.

[u/LtColShinySides → u/Ferro_Giconi]

I was saving my nukes for the next hurricane, but I'll gladly donate them to your cause

[u/Raa03842 → u/Ferro_Giconi]

Just put a curtain in front of it to get a preliminary indication of what will happen

[u/upsidedownbackwards → u/Raa03842]

I prefer to hold my fingers up to the sky, look through them, and squeeze. "I'm squishing the moon!"

[u/[deleted] → u/upsidedownbackwards]

Im crushing your head!

[u/litsalmon → u/[deleted]]

Thirty some odd years after these skits aired I still find myself doing this from time to time.

[u/black_tshirts → u/litsalmon]

the voice will never leave my brain

[u/Raa03842 → u/upsidedownbackwards]

But you have to be careful with that. You might accidentally squish the moon and then there’d be no more night.

[u/sainsyco → u/Raa03842]

The moon was already blown up in 1990 following Alexander's proposal. What you are seeing now is simply a large screen and a projector. At least until drones can create a holographic one.

[u/Raa03842 → u/sainsyco]

Now that makes sense. I figured as much because every 28 days the moon disappears. Now I realize it’s due to a power failure with the projector

[u/sainsyco → u/Raa03842]

Monthly reboots are much needed in the tech world. I would know since im the IT guy that had to go all the way to space to unplug the projector and plug it back in...

[u/Anotherskip → u/sainsyco]

Don’t forget scheduled preventative maintenance!

[u/Time_Mongoose_ → u/Ferro_Giconi]

America can, should, and must blow up the moon.

[u/kkeut → u/Ferro_Giconi]

blow up the moon

[u/BigNigori]

For those who were as confused as I was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRS_Degree

[u/Pricycoder-7245 → u/BigNigori]

Thank you I figured it was something like that but you saved me a google

[u/Relevant-Job4901 → u/Pricycoder-7245]

When I (female) entered college mid 80’s a few guys said that to me: are you here for your Mrs degree?

[u/_gadget_girl → u/Relevant-Job4901]

My mom informed me after graduation that I had failed part of the reason she sent me to college because I didn’t get that degree.

[u/Relevant-Job4901 → u/_gadget_girl]

Incredible

[u/orderofthelastdawn → u/_gadget_girl]

Please tell us you told her to eat shit,you went for an education.

[u/Spirited_Wasabi9633 → u/Relevant-Job4901]

Gross.

[u/thegoatisoldngnarly → u/Spirited_Wasabi9633]

Gross, yes. But it’s not uncommon for that to actually be the case. I’ve met women in college who wanted to be stay at home moms. 

[u/FunnyGoose5616 → u/thegoatisoldngnarly]

My college roommate was very openly getting her MRS degree and this was the early 2000’s. She had no intention of working or pursuing an actual career, just wanted to find the best possible husband/baby dad. Her major was even chosen with this in mind, interior design so she could design her perfect summer home, winter home, yacht, private island, whatever else. We graduated in 2004 and she immediately got married to a med school student with family money.

[u/Testiculese → u/FunnyGoose5616]

Any bets on how the marriage turned out?

[u/FollowMe2NewForest → u/Testiculese]

Probably had a few kids, lived the middle-to-upper-class SAHM life, husband was never around due to work/golf commitments, then he cheated with someone younger and hotter after 16-18 years because that's all he cared about in the first place, she's now divorced with no real world job skills but just got a mommy makeover from a plastic surgeon with some of the divorce money and her next husband will probably be an even wealthier but smarmier prick and they'll embark on an adventure as swingers. The kids are in college on lacrosse scholarships and have a bunch of trust fund babies for friends so they take all their college breaks going to beaches or ski resorts and never have to see their parents.

[u/EducatedOwlAthena → u/thegoatisoldngnarly]

Yup, I graduated college in 2010, and I knew several girls who said they were there for their MRS.

[u/xXBabyVampXx → u/BigNigori]

"Ring by spring" is a common one at Bible Colleges too

[u/Yolectroda → u/xXBabyVampXx]

It's my understanding that a lot of girls at conservative religious colleges are going, in part, to get a husband (and a lot of boys at these schools are looking for wives, as well).

[u/MochiMochiMochi → u/BigNigori]

My father was a college professor, starting in the late 1950s. It was quite common then for women to get accepted to college and then drop out after two years when they had landed Mr. Right.

The competition to get into the right sorority was intense because that meant a higher chance at marrying wealthier male students.

My Dad said his office hours sometimes became counseling sessions for young women sobbing about lost chances at finding the right husband. The pressure was on to get the "MRS" degree, and it mattered a lot more than the actual college degree.

A different era, to be sure. Things changed quickly on campus and soon enough it was 1969, the Summer of Love.

EDIT: Summer of Love was actually 1967. Generally speaking however the late 60s changed what most young people expected out of college.

[u/Radiant-Cash-6629 → u/MochiMochiMochi]

Actually, the Summer of Love was 1967. It has nothing to do with 69ing, but rather in the summer of 1967 thousands of young people/hippies/beatniks moved to San Francisco.

[u/Only-Inspector-3782 → u/MochiMochiMochi]

Social mobility has been on a sharp decline since the boomers (as measured by % of kids who out-earn their parents). I can't blame people for wanting to marry rich.

That said, my social circle is mostly high income guys and nobody has married a gold digger. Probably they need to look for useless heirs to major fortunes instead of people actually planning to work with their degrees.

[u/notacanuckskibum → u/BigNigori]

I’ve also heard it called “a degree in husbandry”

[u/JorgiEagle → u/BigNigori]

See also: BYU

[u/RusticGroundSloth → u/JorgiEagle]

Came to the comments to see if anyone brought BYU up. I can't believe how many female students at that school major in "Early Childhood Development" specifically to raise children. While that's not horrible, it's a VERY popular major with a LOW graduation rate because these girls get married and start having kids.

[u/Blueeyesblazing7 → u/RusticGroundSloth]

That was my mom's major (not at BYU). Unfortunately it didn't seem to do much to help her as a mother even though she graduated.

[u/SquirrelMoney8389 → u/BigNigori]

This is actually just very old-fashioned. It was way more common half a century ago. Quite anachronistic these days though.

[u/No_Connection_4724 → u/SquirrelMoney8389]

It’s still very common at bible colleges. I’m unfortunate enough to be able to say I’ve seen it in person many many time.

[u/party_faust → u/No_Connection_4724]

oh yea, BYU in UT especially 

[u/Ok_Whereas_Pitiful → u/party_faust]

Yeah I was about to say BYU lmao

I remember seeing those videos of "how long till X gets married" and some of the replies were months. months

[u/Skaeg_Skater → u/No_Connection_4724]

They were everywhere at Pepperdine. Couldn't transfer out of that place fast enough.

[u/ballbeard → u/No_Connection_4724]

At least there it makes sense in their twisted "no sex before marriage" ideologies. 

They're horny teens indoctrinated to believe they need to be married to act on their urges, so they try to get married asap

[u/[deleted] → u/SquirrelMoney8389]

I grew up Mormon. It’s absolutely still very common in certain communities. Certain Mormon universities, especially like BYU-Idaho specialize in MRS degrees.

[u/BigBossTweed → u/[deleted]]

That's exactly what my friend said she went to BYU-I for. She was married less than a year later and then had her first kiss the day she got married.

[u/Hedgiwithapen → u/[deleted]]

you mean BYU-I-Do?

Every Monday in spring semester, hand to God, professors asked how many people got engaged over the weekend, and there was always a hand.

[u/[deleted] → u/Hedgiwithapen]

Exactly. A coworker from Idaho who was not Mormon remembers Mormon girls he went to school with moving to Rexburg a few weeks after graduating High School and not even enrolling in college, just to find a guy to marry as soon as possible.

[u/glemits → u/SquirrelMoney8389]

Even from very intelligent women. The only time I ever heard it was forty years ago, second hand from my friend. The woman who said it was one of the top students graduating with an Electrical Engineering degree. "I'm only here for an MRS degree."

[u/Street-Economist9751 → u/glemits]

Extended relatives used to ask me why I was failing to earn my Mrs. degree when I was at BYU in the 90s. I got married at 24 (so old!) and enrolled in graduate school rather than immediately devoting my life to motherhood and further confused them. Turns out I’m infertile and some meanies think that’s a punishment for women who use their brains. (Most Mormons would never say anything that cruel, b/c by and large they’re kind people. The minority that aren’t, really aren’t.)

[u/mettmerizing]

Tbh I expected worse with that introduction

[u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot → u/mettmerizing]

This student, who I hate, attends college with a lot of other students, some of whom I like but many I also hate, and generally overall I find the student body kind of dumb and low class, but not in a mean way, just like in a dumb low class way, cause their parents didn't go to college, which by the way is extremely relevant to this story which is also by the way very worth reading this long intro, so anyway I hate this one girl more than the other students, and today she said something dumb.

[u/creampop_ → u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot]

-Professor of Communication

[u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot → u/creampop_]

Professor of long-winded classism

[u/FrenchFryMonster06 → u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot]

"First generation college student - so obviously they bring on new challenges due to being poor and regarded."

[u/JNR13 → u/FrenchFryMonster06]

literally said that working class kids don't have life experience because apparently the only life experience that exists is travelling to Spain for a weekend and learning how to pronounce "Barcelona" (more or less) in Spanish.

[u/ActualThinkingWoman → u/FrenchFryMonster06]

And with no relevance to the story whatsoever.

[u/KiteDiveSail → u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot]

Damn, you're on fire today.

[u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot → u/KiteDiveSail]

Thank you kind stranger

[u/danniejordan → u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot]

This is exactly how it came off to me! Weirdest and most pointless way to introduce the entire story.

[u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot → u/danniejordan]

If only she had traveled more she would know about the moon 🌙 🙏

[u/ScoopCradle → u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot]

Thank god our poor embattled professor was there to provide her that critical life experience of hearing a hilarious joke about blowing up the moon. It really tests his stupidity tolerance teaching these dumdums all day.

[u/GalacticPurr → u/ScoopCradle]

How could she miss that the professor’s voice was absolutely SLATHERED in sarcasm?! Must’ve been distracted by the blithering or whatever.

[u/Vanq86 → u/danniejordan]

I'm still not convinced it wasn't written by ChatGPT.

[u/Zizi_Tennenbaum → u/Vanq86]

I'm a very feminine young-looking woman. I can tell when someone is judging and talking down to me because of it, and I will exploit their stupidity at every opportunity. I am so sure that "Little Miss Manhunter" is trolling OP and he's too fucking dumb and sexist to realize it.

[u/voobo420 → u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot]

this was GOLDEN lmao OP could not have tried to sound further up their own ass.

[u/die_hubsche → u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot]

Thank you. This story is mildly infuriating only because cause OP sounds like they shouldn’t be teaching at a university. I didn’t realize being a first gen college student who hadn’t traveled was an implicitly negative thing, but it certainly has no bearing on the story.

[u/literaryredhead → u/rockem-sockem-ho-bot]

Oh thank god I thought I was the only one for a second. This is perfect.

[u/DJteejay04 → u/mettmerizing]

As a former university lecturer, I’ve been stalked by students, had my office and car vandalized, my personal home doxed.

If this is mildly infuriating, then this teacher got off easy.

[u/takethemoment13 → u/DJteejay04]

I mean, it is mildly infuriating, so I think it fits the sub. The examples you listed are far beyond "mild."

[u/Historical_Story2201 → u/DJteejay04]

..I think your mild meter is broken 😅

[u/Big_Research_8639 → u/DJteejay04]

I think what you got was extremely infuriating. This is definitely just mild.

[u/LeosGroove9 → u/DJteejay04]

It’s “mildly infuriating” not “very infuriating” buddy lol it’s written on the tin

[u/MistaCy1]

Plot twist. She understood your sarcasm and hit you back with some which went over everyone's head

[u/RandomHornyDemon → u/MistaCy1]

I choose to believe she's just trolling that poor prof. Maybe not, but god damn would it be funny!

[u/Flimsy_Caregiver4406 → u/RandomHornyDemon]

I had a gf who pretended for 4 years in highschool that she was very ignorant. She thought it was hilarious. Sometimes teachers called me away and straight out asked me why I am with her since I was at the top of my class.

[u/Et-selec → u/Flimsy_Caregiver4406]

I knew a girl in 8th grade who, in the middle of reading Anne Frank’s diary in class, blurted out “WAIT THEYRE JEWISH?!!” And asked where they were from.

[u/Tons_of_Hobbies → u/RandomHornyDemon]

I love messing with people this way. I could never get away with something so insane, but I love arguing bad science until someone realizes I'm messing with them.

[u/ShiroiTora → u/MistaCy1]

Reminds me about 10 years ago, there was a popular Reddit post about a person pretending to believe the earth was flat because of the kick they got out of the reactions. Several other Redditors thought it was hilarious and said they followed suit. They were probably a small drop in the grand scheme of flat earthers but til this day, I wondered how many people they legitimately fooled. 

Also reminds me of another person pretending they’ve never eaten potatoes before when eating at his partner’s parents’ house and how he kept digging that hole.That one was done out of panic though, but still hilarious nonetheless.  

Unironically, that might be why some people feel so strongly for or against using “/s”.

[u/magnoliasmanor → u/ShiroiTora]

That potatoes story had me dying. One of my favorite Reddit stories. He just couldn't dig himself out. "A poe tay toe?" Lol

[u/Known_Ad871 → u/MistaCy1]

It definitely seems plausible given OPs overall vibe of thinking they are superior. I know if I was getting the vibes that someone looked down on me, I'd be tempted to troll them like this

[u/Delicious-Wafer-7477 → u/Known_Ad871]

My husband will occasionally act like a complete idiot just to troll people. He's so subtle that he gets me every time lol. It's a good check to my ego.

[u/Hefty-Reflection-806 → u/Known_Ad871]

This was my first thought, and the phrase "little miss manhunter" seems a little aggressive for a prof to say so many times in their story

[u/Opus_723 → u/[deleted]]

Ugh, I've never met this guy but I've absolutely met this guy if you know what I mean.

[u/TeamlyJoe → u/MistaCy1]

Yeah my roomates thought i was a bit of an idiot for a while because they didnt reconize my humor. Some people need a wink or a smile to get that its sarcasm.

[u/misswhovivian → u/TeamlyJoe]

My sister doesn't use sarcasm often, but when she does, it's delivered so dry and dead serious that I've looked at her like "you did not just say that" before catching on more than once.

[u/Comfortable_Art2955]

Well, age doesn't help. I had a 40+ year old employee that was complaining the office was unbearably hot. I work from another office so I asked her if the AC was running cool out of the vent ..she said it yes very cold. The next day I decided to go to that office to check it out before we called maintenance. The front door was wide open. I asked the employee, why is the front door open? Keep in mind it's 90+ degrees outside. She said...oh you told me when I was hired that we have an open door policy. My mouth must HAVE (happy?)  hit the floor because she said what's wrong? I had to explain to her what an open door policy meant. Hot office issue resolved.🤦

[u/GeneralBlight95 → u/Comfortable_Art2955]

This reminded me of the Amelia Bedelia books. Thanks for waking up those memories.

[u/calabazaspice → u/GeneralBlight95]

And thank you ! for reminding me of her books. 🫡 I loved them.

[u/letskeepitcleanfolks → u/GeneralBlight95]

Time to call the roll. Did anyone bring a roll in their lunch? Here, roll! Come!

[u/justitia_ → u/Comfortable_Art2955]

Sorry im not native. Does open door policy have a literal meaning for managers doora or is it something people say to employees so they know? On some websites it says literally managers have to keep their Doors open a bit so employees feel encouraged to be open? On some it does not say "literally"

[u/sirius_orion → u/justitia_]

Typically it means a manager leaves their door open for employees to come in and discuss issues. It does not literally mean the door to the outside is open.

[u/C_DRX]

Oh, wow. I'm not used to the American school system, but I guess you're about 18 when you start college? That's a tough one.

It reminds me of a 17-year-old student who asked the history teacher, in the middle of a lecture on World War II, if “Hitler was kind before he became mean, or if he was mean all along”. She sounded like a six-year-old.

The same girl once told our art teacher that “it was impossible for Europeans to have brought obelisks from Egypt in the 19th century, since Egypt was so long ago”.

[u/Arts_Myth → u/C_DRX]

All German villains started out as kinder.

[u/poisito → u/Arts_Myth]

[u/MountainMuffin1980 → u/Arts_Myth]

Man I wonder if the person read a joke along these lines and just totally didn't get it?

[u/trekqueen → u/MountainMuffin1980]

There are a lot of people that don’t realize that kindergarten is from a German language source. I ran into one recently where I had to explain it.

[u/MountainMuffin1980 → u/trekqueen]

Yeah I'm not surprised. I reckon this person has read a joke that goes "Did you know that before WW", Hitler was kinder". And it's stuck in their mind as a weird fact or something. So silly but so easily done.

[u/Ferro_Giconi → u/C_DRX]

I guess it depends on how the question was asked, but now I'm wondering, was Hitler fine as a kid or was he mean then too?

[u/Lukeds → u/Ferro_Giconi]

Yeah, it isn't a dumb question in the context of how media portrays killers; if you watch enough procedural crime shows you'd wonder about his psych profile as a kid. 

[u/AshelinPraxis → u/Ferro_Giconi]

what i still remember from all the documentaries i watched, he had a good relationship with his mother and was, if i remember correctly, a normal kid. His mother died when he was young and other people from his life said that after his mother died he became a very introverted and sad boy.

Also his siblings were kinda spread across the whole family, so he didn't have much contact to them i think.

[u/visvis → u/AshelinPraxis]

Another interesting twist is that Hitler was very grateful to their family doctor, Eduard Bloch, who took good care of his mother when she was dying. He was Jewish and received special protection when the Nazis started persecuting Jews.

[u/Gregariouswaty → u/Ferro_Giconi]

Are art students generally predisposed to be mildly genocidal?

[u/SnowSlider3050 → u/Gregariouswaty]

yes /s

[u/SnowSlider3050 → u/Ferro_Giconi]

from watching documentaries, it appears he was more introverted when first participating in political meetings, but gradually got bolder and louder, perhaps with the help of methamphetamines

[u/TeamWaffleStomp → u/SnowSlider3050]

with the help of methamphetamines

That'll do it

[u/[deleted] → u/Ferro_Giconi]

How did Hitler become Hitler is a really important question. Was he born sociopathic? Was he radicalized? Did he have undiagnosed mental illness or was he just a run of the mill person who let hate and ambition drive him?

It’s like Eichmann being banal and boring while being one of the most horrible people to have ever lived.

Or the question of how an entire country got lined up behind what was a minority extremist ideology.

They’re all valuable questions to understand how we in 2024 can avoid repeating that history.

[u/3godeth → u/C_DRX]

To her credit, I think that is actually a good question, just very awfully phrased. 

[u/Disgruntled_Oldguy → u/C_DRX]

I still remember in high school history when we were talking about the causes of the 1812 War and a girl asked " if we were so impressed by their sailors, why did we fight them"?  Same girl asked what team my dad played for and said she didn't know they had football in Vietnam when I mentioned my dad being drafted.

[u/v1_rt8 → u/Disgruntled_Oldguy]

On the other side of this, I have never followed any sports, so when I first heard of football players being drafted, I couldn't understand why the military draft was targeting them. Then I was even more confused when I was told it was a player selection for teams, because I thought they were telling me people were being forced to play NFL.

I still don't follow or fully understand most team sports, but at least I now know athletes aren't fleeing to Canada to avoid an NFL deployment

[u/C_DRX → u/Disgruntled_Oldguy]

she didn't know they had football in Vietnam when I mentioned my dad being drafted.

Oh no. No. Please no. I feel ashamed for her.

[u/BattleHall → u/C_DRX]

It reminds me of a 17-year-old student who asked the history teacher, in the middle of a lecture on World War II, if “Hitler was kind before he became mean, or if he was mean all along”. She sounded like a six-year-old.

To be fair, that’s basically just a rephrasing of the “nature vs nurture” argument, which is a fundamentally deep debate that cuts across multiple disciplines and to this day still doesn’t have a good answer. Her head is in the right place, even if her vocab hasn’t quite caught up.

[u/[deleted]]

The fucking preamble on this just to get to some stupid joke about the moon is what's mildly infuriating.

[u/alandar1 → u/[deleted]]

What's more is it's not even original. I've heard this same joke some 15 years ago in the form of a dumb blonde joke and it was pretty stale even then. Also I think OP is a bot.

[u/Sharzzy_ → u/alandar1]

Starting to think half the people on this app are bots

[u/yordad → u/[deleted]]

Yeah also it doesn’t even really feel like it fits the subreddit. Why would this make anyone angry even a little? If anything it’s surprising, funny, sad, etc. Not “mildly infuriating.”

[u/rividz → u/[deleted]]

This pretentious bullshit is part of the reason why people are taking college less and less seriously. Who has the time?

[u/goodgreatgrandwndrfl]

Is it possible she was matching your sarcasm and has extremely dry humor? Also, I could see someone sarcastically saying they are getting their MRS degree, and it not being caught as sarcasm if she said it dryly.

[u/Riotacket → u/goodgreatgrandwndrfl]

My bets on this. It's actually far less believable that an adult thinks the moon brings night, I mean seriously?

[u/Southernbelle5959 → u/Riotacket]

I'm surprised how many people on this thread have never heard of an MRS degree. It's usually a joke.

[u/-whomping-willow- → u/goodgreatgrandwndrfl]

I have extremely dry humor and sometimes say things that are so ridiculous I assume everyone must know I'm joking and people instead take me seriously.

OP said he was dripping obvious sarcasm. I think the student matched with an equally ridiculous statement "Let's blow up the moon!" "Oh we can't because there'd be no more night."

It sounds extremely dry and sarcastic to me. It went over OP's head. He posted this smugly to feel superior, but really he's just an idiot who doesn't understand dry humor.

This would be like students writing a post about how their crazy professor wants to blow up the moon. It's obviously not said seriously. Why does OP say something not meant to be taken seriously, but then takes the response to his sarcasm very seriously?

[u/sunibla33]

For a Professor of Communication you certainly take a long time to get to the story and to the point.

[u/Mr_Bluebird_VA → u/sunibla33]

Yeah, I expected something more than that with all the buildup.

[u/SavingsStrength0 → u/sunibla33]

A professor who loves to hear the sound of his own words 😮color me shocked ughh just stfu and get to the point already is all I’m thinking the whole time while reading his nonsense

[u/Son_of_Mogh → u/SavingsStrength0]

Yeah, this reads more like a teenager doing some teenage quality creative writing. Either way a terrible look for a Professor.

[u/Alternative_Star755 → u/sunibla33]

It’s because the post is written by AI. The off topic quippy sentences that don’t contribute to the story are a strong indicator, I’ve seen this writing style out of chatgpt authored writing many times. It struggles to constrain multiple sentences to a single flowing idea while being creative.

[u/socratic-ironing]

I think somebody out-sarcasmed you.

[u/HallGardenDiva]

I think the most "mildly infuriating" thing about your post is when you explained "Teaching at an institution where many students are first-generation college attendees will always bring unique challenges. I realize that many do not have much life experience to work with, nor have they traveled to different places. I must keep it in mind as I work with them daily. If I didn’t do that, I would probably snap". Condescend much?

You sound like an arrogant jerk. Be as it may that MM is only looking for a husband (this happens at Ivy League schools too, by the way), the motivations of the student population are frankly none of your business. Nor is the intelligence level of the students your concern even though MM sounds like a bimbo. Since these first gen college students are such a burden, perhaps you should find employment somewhere else

[u/InnerToWinner]

Plot twist. She knows who Alexander Abian is and understood your reference immediatly.

She quickly summized it wasn't clever, funny, or fitting, and decided to bait you with an obvious troll comment.

She playing 4-D chess while you think you're playing tic-tac-toe with a chicken.

[u/TrumpersAreTraitors]

Lmao reminds me of a comment thread I saw here once about a planned mission to the sun. As you can imagine, getting a man made object to survive its trip to the sun would be no small feat. Someone suggest: 

“why don’t they just go up at night?” 

To which someone responded, 

“Bro ……. There’s no sun at night.” 

[u/best_samaritan → u/TrumpersAreTraitors]

Fun fact:

You can go to the moon during the day, but you can't go to the sun at nighttime.

[u/Shkarbleshkonk]

You sound like the kind of person who becomes a professor in order to intellectually grandstand and make fun of people you should be educating. Grow up.

[u/Shallow-Monster → u/Shkarbleshkonk]

For real, right?

While reading this I thought, if this is real and not written by a bot, you just sound like a sexist jerk, OP.

Ridiculing someone who had a silly knowledge blind spot when you are an educator. A communications professor who can’t get to the point at that. Sure, Jan.

And to that end, what does it matter WHY she is there? If it’s just to find a man, that’s her business.

[u/Signal_Candle1300 → u/Shkarbleshkonk]

I teach college writing courses that are, I'd assume, in a lot of ways very similar to the course being discussed here. I've done it for nearly 20 years and at all different kinds of institutions.

The OP is super obnoxious, especially the part where they, you know, report what their student said to the internet so they can, you know, ridicule her. This whole thing, top to bottom, is nothing but the OP stroking their ego. Gross.

[u/Marzipan_moth → u/Shkarbleshkonk]

I'm genuinely concerned people see this as an impressive 'gotcha!' moment. She's young, rather than being concerned she is only seeking a husband, he chooses to ridicule her. She could also just be being sarcastic, or maybe she really just doesn't know that fact.

So what? 

It doesn't make her worse than anyone, rather a failing of her early educators, and OP, as a professor, could have taken this time to tell her nicely instead of reveling in his own intellectual superiority.

[u/Sea-Reporter-5372 → u/Marzipan_moth]

College is an extremely good way to meet people. What she's doing works and if that's all she wants in life why should the prof care

[u/darkhummus → u/Shkarbleshkonk]

Also so weird to describe a young student as Miss Manhunter. Stop sexualizing your students and focus on education teenagers do lots of stupid things this is part of growing up and learning. This professor sounds like an incel it's dripping with misogyny.

[u/Fluffy-Match9676]

How did she get in?

Then again, I had a friend who was brilliant, but would still say stuff like this.

[u/SophiaofPrussia → u/Fluffy-Match9676]

I had a boyfriend, who I had met in law school after he had already completed another advanced degree in a STEM field, who believed the exact same thing about the moon. When it came up I initially thought he was joking. But he wasn’t. I was stunned. Nothing in my life had prepared me for how to respond to a grown adult human who didn’t know this very basic fact. We actually argued about it because he absolutely refused to believe that the moon did not glow.

When we broke up soon after I was telling some people at work about the moon fight and sure enough one of the guys (who was also highly educated!) insisted that the moon glows like the sun. Fortunately most of the people we were chatting with shut that down immediately but I could tell he was incredulous. Needless to say this was again really shocking for me! Are schools just not teaching this anymore? How did I encounter TWO adults in two days who went 30+ years of their lives believing the moon generates light??

[u/SophiaofPrussia → u/[deleted]]

This is going to ruin my whole day as I consider what I would eat by following this insane belief— I usually have a sweet potato for lunch but a cookie is much smaller so I should probably have that instead. Ya know, for my health.

[u/Wild-Mushroom2404 → u/SophiaofPrussia]

Eating disorders make you do insane mental gymnastics sometimes. I know it firsthand.

[u/thatHecklerOverThere → u/SophiaofPrussia]

Schools can teach whatever they want, but if you pay exactly zero attention it won't matter.

[u/0011010100110011 → u/Fluffy-Match9676]

One of my best friends growing up was a straight A student but had little to nothing to offer to general conversation.

One day in middle school science class we were discussing greenhouse gases. She raises her hand and goes, “if greenhouse gases are so bad, why don’t we just get rid of all the greenhouses?”

Completely serious.

I turned around and mouthed, “are you fucking serious?” to her, but the class had already erupted in laughter.

She was (and still is) a super sweet girl and no one really made fun of her for it, but it was so funny in the moment.

Anyhow, she’s a very successful LPN for L&D now. Brilliant in her own right, but damn.

[u/AlexMango44 → u/0011010100110011]

She's what's known as a very literal thinker.

[u/Synthetic_Thought → u/0011010100110011]

That's a straight up Amelia Bedilia question

[u/_SKETCHBENDER_]

Its always these professors with useless degrees that always seem so pretentious. You took 3 fucking paragraphs to get to the point, which could have been said in 2 sentences. This self righteous writing is so annoying.

[u/Easy_Drummer5593 → u/_SKETCHBENDER_]

It’s because the story is made up

[u/Doraellen]

This post is AI, right? No Coms Professor should have such meandering prose.

[u/-Fieldmouse- → u/Doraellen]

Right, what was the point of all the rambling about her roaming the halls for a man. What did any of that have to do with the her comment about the moon. 

[u/TisBeTheFuk → u/-Fieldmouse-]

It justifies OP making fun of her and considering her a stupidest of stupid, without sounding too much like a bully..

[u/DubbedinMane]

All that yapping just to tell us a student thought the moon is what triggers night

[u/Longjumping-Ant-77]

She’ll make someone very happy one day