Chris Austin was clever. The was one of his problems. Well, actually it was my problem. Just a few months from graduation, the 18-year-old had started getting under my skin. Normal students struggled to master the material I presented them with in my AP Brit lit course. It was the kind of material they would be expected to master in college, but most of them just weren't at that level yet.
Chris was not one of those students. I could tell he would excel in his college courses, and the way he questioned everything would endear him to his professors. To me, though, he was just another daily hurdle I had to jump in order to get 20 seniors ready for the AP test.
Lately, he had been challenging the material itself, going on and on about a show called The Wire. I didn't mind discussion the pitfalls of the AP curriculum, but it was eating up too much of my instruction time, so I told him that if he really wanted to talk about it, he could stop by my room after school. I half hoped he had something better to do after school, but at 3:15 he pulled up a chair next to my desk and continued his argument right where he had left off in class.
"Oh, Mrs. Kupala please," he started. "Just because something is written doesn't mean it's a work worthy of discussion or analysis. The Wire is a novel come to life on T.V. and is the only T.V. series I have ever seen that I could make that claim about. The Wire is set up, not to appeal to the short attention span of the typical T.V. viewer, but to draw you into the web it weaves. Watch the first season of it and I promise we will have something to discuss. You should know I'm not some illiterate punk Mrs. Kupala. How else am I getting As on your papers? Or maybe you're just an easy grader."
I refrained from rolling my eyes. I was not an easy grader, and he know it. More than once I had returned a paper to a student covered in red marks, refusing to grade it until all the grammar and spelling issues had been fixed. Chris had just never experienced that first hand, as his writing was flawless.
"It's Ms. Kupala, young man," I corrected him. It was instinct, as I bristled at the idea that others assumed I should be married. "Look, I'm not saying the show doesn't have it's merits. If this were a class on film or drama, I would love to show high quality T.V. series. Shows like Orphan Black, Community, and Bomb Girls are also exemplary models of the kind of storytelling television is capable of. However, this is a literature class, and I've got 20 students that need to get 4s and 5s on the test in May. Writing skills are difficult to improve if reading skills don't improve, and while you may think this class is too easy, I guarantee some of your classmates would disagree with you. Besides, the content of The Wire is too vulgar for a high school setting. The language, sex, and drugs on the show means it would never get past the school board." I explained.
"Tell you what, though. Since you seem so passionate about it, and I hate to discourage passion in my students, I'll watch the first season and we can discuss it after school sometime." I turned back to the papers on his desk, expecting my offer would satisfy him and he would leave. "And while you may not be illiterate, Mr. Austin, you are kind of a punk."
"Ms? I thought you had a husband!" he bemused offhandedly, before continuing his tirade, unappeased. "Ms. Kupala, you know how easy that test is. That's not me being a smart ass, that's me saying if someone fails that test it's because they don't know how to form a coherent sentence or understand what they are reading. Why would someone who cannot do that be taking your advanced class? Since this is an advanced class, I believe that means your students are a given to pass the test, and our prerogative for that is learning harder or more open-to-interpretation material. Why have a filter for what we learn? The Wire is one of the most realistic shows out there, it accurately depicts how people think and what we're in for when we graduate into the real world where everything isn't filtered for us and we don't have a safety net."
He stood up, and I thought he was about to leave, but instead he leaned against my desk.
"I'm glad to hear that you are open to watching the first season for me, Ms. Kupala. Why don't you watch a couple episodes tonight, and tomorrow we can order some food and have dinner over discussion.Now, would you like for me to show you how to download the episodes for free?"
"Thank you for your offer to assist me in downloading episodes," I scoffed. "But I am NOT an old lady, and I can navigate the internet just fine, thank you very much. Besides, I prefer to stream my content. I will try watch an episode tonight, and we can discuss it tomorrow, but I think it would be inappropriate for me to have dinner with a student. How about just a coffee?"
"Inappropriate?" He chuckled. "Well, if you really think it is necessary, coffee would be fine. I believe you need to see more than one episode though, the first episode is merely the beginning of the story being fleshed out, Mrs. Kupala."
"Ms," I reminded him. "You know what they say about people who assume, Mr. Austin. It would have to be a strong man indeed to tie me down, not that my students need to know my relationship status."
"You haven't met that strong man yet, Ms. Kupala?" he queried. "Oh and please, call me Chris."
"I've met plenty of strong men, Chris, but finding one that matches up with my desires and finds me attractive as well is harder than it seems, especially since I'm looking for more than a prom date." As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn't have. Desires? That was not something I should be talking about with a student.
"What exactly are your desires Ms. Kupala?" He asked, leaning closer to me. "And who says I'm looking for a prom date? I don't think I am even going to prom, it seems like a dull affair."
"I didn't mean to suggest that you specifically are looking for a prom date, only that what I'm looking for at 26 is much different than what I was looking for when I was your age," I clarified. " You know, prom is fun if you go with the right people. Some students expect it to be the highlight of the year and the most romantic night of their lives, but really it's just another party. Those that expect too much will be disappointed, but it's a good time if there aren't many expectations. I went with a group of ten girls and had a blast.
