Saturday, November 17, 2012

My brother's keeper

Cain and Abel?

A student was talking to a friend. He sounded a bit irked.

“My brother is enrolled in a college in Oakland. He's having a really bad time in his math class.”

His friend nodded her head in sympathy. The young man continued his tale of woe.

“Yeah, a really bad time. You know, I took the placement test for him so that he could get into the class in the first place, but it's really kicking his butt!”

Strange to say, the boy sounded exasperated. Here he had done his brother this great big favor, helping him enroll in a class for which he was not prepared, and nevertheless his brother was squandering this golden opportunity by flunking the class. No doubt the brother was insufficiently grateful, too.

At least the young man has a great future before him. He'd be a natural as a Republican campaign consultant.


4 comments:

Gene O'Pedia said...

Oh, come on Zeno, you expect us to believe that you simply happened to overhear these remarks? Too scripted! Too juicy! Those guys probably just wanted to get into your blog ("Here he comes, get ready now, make it sound natural.")

I wouldn't blame them for that either but, really, how else to explain such goofy behavior? If I'm forced to think of their remarks as real, I'm left having to consider a world wherein such people actually live. Impossible! You're a mathematician, what are the odds of that?

Kathie said...

Oh c'mon Gene, SOMEBODY has to be a mathematician, so it might as well be Zeno.

Liam Ryan said...

This piece is rather wanting in wit and profundity. It's a shame for a usually interesting blog.

Zeno said...

I am, of course, quite dismayed, because showcasing my wit and profundity was the entire reason for this highly significant post.