Flashbacks from High School

Did you ever have a teacher or professor in high school or college who used the "Russian Roulette" method of discussion? Was it a subject that you didn't like or knew very little about?

For those of you who are wondering what "Russian Roulette" is, I'm not talking about this. I'm talking about when the teacher asks a question, expecting the answer to be more than a simple "yes" or "no", and randomly calls on students in the room (whether or not they look like they have a clue what he's talking about).

I had a teacher in high school like this. I dreaded going to his class every day. Seriously...I would feel sick to my stomach as I was walking down the hall to his class. I would avoid eye contact with this teacher at all costs, without looking like I was TRYING to avoid eye contact.

Tonight I had some pretty major flashbacks from high school when I attended a focus group discussion at this place. The discussion was on republican party candidates for the primary election. I'm not quite sure how I got chosen for this discussion considering everyone there was at least 10 years older than me and obviously much more knowledgeable on the subject.

After about 20 minutes into the discussion I realized I wasn't going to fool anybody. I admitted to the room of older and much wiser (politically, anyway) people that I was pretty clueless. The only candidate I knew anything about was Rudy Giuliani. I VERY rarely read the paper or watch CNN News. The leader of the discussion continued to ask me what I thought about the ability of this guy to make changes in Washington, or if I thought this guy would be a good leader and why.

By the end of the night, I felt REALLY stupid! Yes, I learned a few things about the candidates but what was more evident to me and everyone else in the room was what I DIDN'T know!

Hopefully the next time this marketing research company calls me, I will be asked to discuss something I'm an expert on, like, I don't know...diapers. Then I'll look like the smartest woman ever....too bad those smarty pants who were there tonight won't be there for me to redeem myself. Oh well, at least my kids think I'm smart!

Gotta go read up on some political candidates now....