I Hate Lying
Remember two weeks ago, when I was in the middle of grading the first batch of WR121 essays? How I said, “I’ll have more to say about this shortly”?
I guess I lied. Here it is, November 1, and I’m once again in the middle of grading a big stack of WR121 essays. After about three weeks into a term, my definition of “I’ll get to that shortly” changes substantially. During the summer, “shortly” usually means “a day or two.” During the school year, as I keep assigning essays, and students keep writing those essays and turning them in, and I keep grading those essays and handing out assignments for new essays, and students keep writing those new essays and turning them in, and–you get the point, right?–anyway, during the school year, the definition of “shortly” becomes entirely relative to what week of the term we’re in.
For instance, if I say during week three that I’ll get to something shortly, I mean “in eight weeks, after I’m done grading the final portfolios.” If I say the same thing in week seven, I mean “in four weeks, after I’m done grading the final portfolios.”
I suppose I should just strike the word “shortly” from my vocabulary for the duration of the school year.