The academic world is a strange place.
Yes, that was an understatement. But, I am trying to be polite here ;)
A couple of days ago, I was in my office, reading and writing as I always end up doing. After all, in my life as an exile, it is not as if busloads of students and faculty come to chat with me, right?
I heard two colleagues conversing in the hallway, and quite loudly too. From their voices, I knew who they were and didn't even have to peek out.
The louder of the two was complaining about some faculty colleague, who is not a member of the union. Apparently this non-member had raised some questions regarding the use of "fair share" money for political activities. I knew it couldn't be me--it has been years since I commented on anything, after I was told to "please shut up."
Anyway, this was when the louder voice got even louder: "that bourgeois trash has no idea how we do things" he yelled.
Such name calling does not surprise me anymore. In the academic world, it has practically become the standard operating procedure not to debate ideas but to instead engage in ad hominem attacks.
And then the louder voice remarked to the other person: "you have one close to home too." The other voice now mumbled something and the two immediately lowered their decibels.
Guess who was being referred to as the one close to home? Yep, moi.
Which means, I am also "bourgeois trash."
Why academics shy away from intellectual debates baffles me to no end. After all these years I should not be surprised, yes. But, I cannot help it but be surprised at the virulent anti-intellectual atmosphere at a place that the rest of the world would think it is all about intellectual discussions!
I was thinking about this and walking towards the campus health center to get my flu shot. I suppose I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't even hear a colleague calling for my attention. The driver of the car honked to get my attention.
"You are not supposed to walk in front of oncoming cars" she joked.
In the conversation that followed, she lamented about the anti-intellectual college environment. "It is like what my friend says--the church is the best place these days to hide from god."
This atheist is now convinced that god is also my kind of people: "bourgeois trash" ;)
3 comments:
Bourgeois ?? You ????? You can be called a lot of things, not all of them complementary :) , but bourgeois would hardly be one of them ?? The right response would be to present a dictionary to your colleague so that he can verify the meaning of that term !
By the way, busloads of people may not be coming to your office, but you can certainly lay claim to receiving a visitor who travelled the longest distance to come there !!
HAHAHAHAHA
Neither the antagonists nor the protagonists in this tale are paid much better than the the more industrious members of the proletariat. And now for your listening pleasure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROWyn8zAVh4
You did come a long, long way to my office, yes. When is your next trip here?
Too bad it was a weekend when I took you there--otherwise, you could have seen some of the "comrades" ... if they think I am some right-wing guy, boy would they have gone ballistic about you--the very embodiment of business and capitalism ;)
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