Monday, July 21, 2008

Beware Faculty Parties and Society Functions With Dancing

So after my first wife threw me out (she had moved from resentment to active dislike and distaste of me...a blessing in disguise) I was invited to what turned out to be my last faculty dinner, thank God. It was a regular gee whiz sit down dinner where the conversation was "scripted" to include...1) Campus real estate values 2) Politics 3) Bigotry and 4) Religion. Now that really was boring, particularly when the Stanford Provost started on the similarities of Catholic confession and psychiatry. Having spent some 23 years (on and off mostly on) going to shrinks. (My first ex-wife felt strongly that there was "something wrong with me" and my "bizarre behavior", her view of me) I resented the Provost's comparison. So I asked him if he was a Catholic. "No" he said. Then asked if he had ever been to confession. "No" he said. I then told him that it was apparent to me that he didn't know what the hell he was talking about. That capped off a pre-dinner conversation with one of the wives who had learned that three of my kids were/are Scientologists and she tried to lecture me starting with quoting a negative magazine article about Scientology. I had responded by asking her if she was one of those damn fools who believed everything she read.....I never was invited to another faculty dinner.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought there was a little more to this story as the evening goes on. I guess I will have to wait for part II. Great stuff. Keep writing

Matt

jimmy said...

Bernie, this is why we all miss seeing you at the airport. Great stuff

God Bless
Jimmy