I get it, class can be — and often is — super boring. And I’ll admit that I’ve taken the occasional opportunity to check out Instagram to see which of my friends are on their way to Spain, leaving me to fend for myself in this rollercoaster Vancouver weather. Sometimes I even feel like I can make a snoozy class more productive by catching up on a never-ending list of weekly SFU emails. But I have enough respect for my fellow students to sit in the back of the class so as to not disturb, on the off chance that someone finds this class interesting. The problem is that some jackals don’t have that kind of respect for their peers. Some will straight-up watch TV.
We fly so far past the line of OK when someone whips out their 15” laptop and decides to whittle away the hours by binging Netflix. Sure, I love episode 20 of the third season of The Office as much as the next person, but all in due time, my friend, all in due time. I’m fighting an inner battle every minute of this class to stay focused. When you watch TV right in front of me, I’m a lost cause.
What’s even worse is how incredibly nice some of those classmates are. When they notice I’m watching behind them, they have the temerity to charitably put on subtitles for me. Possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, and it’s the straw of distraction that breaks my focus’ back. How can I learn about qualitative data methods when Michael Scott is throwing watermelons off a roof?
I need you to shut it down and give me a win over my weak-ass backbone so I can actually get my money’s worth at this institution. Close up the series and let me have something to show for my years’ worth of procrastination. Just remember to send me the episode number so I know where to watch from when I get home.
