Not What I had in Mind

Last summer I took a course in computer programming. It was a free elective. Even though I was not a Computer Science major I felt the course would be helpful no matter the career path I chose.  Few vocations do not involve computers today.  If nothing else the background would be useful with my own computer.  The course turned out to be more helpful than I originally anticipated , but not in the manner it was intended.

Our teacher was quite annoying.  He was a typical computer geek.  He was a also Sci Fi fanatic constantly reciting lines from Star Wars Movies. He started his answers with, "Help you I will" whenever we asked for guidance.  When class was over he would say, “Okay lets load up the Falcon and launch.”  When he did something using one of his own methods he proclaimed, “This is my Jedi Warrior approach.”  When we learned how to extract history from a computer he would whisper,  “HSSH Welcome to the Dark side Luke” in a horrible Darth Vader impersonation.  At first we all found his histrionics amusing, but he got carried away with the concept and we soon found it to be annoying.

Furthermore, his behavior became questionable because he gave some of our female students the creeps.  He got uncomfortably close when he reached to take over their keyboards in order to demonstrate a command.  He was always inviting them to come to his office later on for additional help. I thought nothing of it until it dawned on me that he never extended the same invitation to  male students.

In week four, we were assigned a group project. We all meet weekly on Tuesday evenings at the library.  During our conversation, the topic of the teachers behavior came up.  One of the girls implied that his actions were inappropriate. One of the guys felt that he was harmless and probably didn’t realize how uncomfortable he was making her.  We talked about personal space and borders. How far was too far? Were some of us  trying to justify his actions so we didn’t have to step in? The topic moved to how men and women react differently. Has anyone watched the show "What would you do?" Jennifer, the girl who made the accusation, inquired of the group?  We all agreed that we would keep our eye on him. 

Meanwhile, I  suggested this would be a great topic for the television show.  We decided to write out our concept and send it to the show via email. To our surprise, the very next day, we received a response from the show's producer expressing interest in our topic. Furthermore,  they wanted to come to our school in order to film an episode using our topic. They asked that we help set up the scenario for the host, John Quinones. 

The following week, the show arrived with their caravan of crew and cameras. We set up in an empty classroom as authorized by our school administration. Then, with hidden cameras rolling, we went through a series of roll plays. The variety of responses were amazing. Overall,  Girls tend to be more more offended and proactive than boys. Boys, although slower to react, appeared to raise to a higher level of anger. One boy had to be subdued as it appeared things were about to get physical. 

In the end, we not only became part of a TV show, but we were sure our teacher got the message. Although he couldnt let go of  the Star Wars act, “ Use the force Luke” when he wanted us to fire up our PC's, he appeared nervous and guarded for the rest of the semester.  He became more responsive to the guys in the class as well. That was an interesting semester. What set out to be a lesson in computer operation became an interesting social experiment. I think I learned a lot more from the later.