The Universe Shrinks to the Size of a Pinhead Eight Minutes Before the Opening Bell in the Faculty Break Room

I have a daughter. I have two children older than you.

                                                                                              Oh

                                                                                              nice.      I

                                                                                              have

                                                                                              nobody.

You’re still young in basketball. Muscle memory. Be patient

with yourself. Shoot like Curry from way out. You’d be

welcome on any team. That’s all I’m saying.

                                                                             This year

                                                                            my health

                                                                       is not good.

You’re a young man. Practice makes perfect.

                                                                   My dad died.

Let’s go through the schedule.

                                                                    I was   sad

                                                               for four months.

                                                                 I thought it was

                                                               a Wednesday.

I understand.

                                                                        He had cancer.

Trying to get my prostate checked. A fit test. Inside all

checked.

                                                                                     I’m so

                                                                        weak this year.

It was forced on me to get to that level. Junior college

assessment. Pre-algebra. It’s why I excelled.

                                                                                  Funny

                                                                        thing,           same

                                                                        thing happened

                                                                        to me in college

                                                                        with English.

Right,                                   Right,                                   Yeah.

A good person is an 80-90% writer. My ethnics teacher laid

out examples on sentence structure. Ten body paragraphs.

Nice and smooth. Gonna get my teaching cred in June.

                                                                        Who’s saying?

That’s what they’re saying.

                                                           Who?

This is what I’m saying… What I have anxiety about. Out in

the real world. Students dropping out and bumming.

                                                                                         My dad

                                                           worked in construction.

You heard the BART surfer?

                                                           No.

That eighth grader.

                                                                                         I just got

                                                                        back          from

                                                                        China.

Cool. So thing here is BART surfer.

                                                           What’s that?

Kid riding on top of the subway.

                                                                                         Would

                                                                        never happen

                                                                             in China.

He went flying. He’s dead.

                                                                        Wow. I’ve never

                                                           done those things.

We were young teenagers once.

                                                                        My culture

                                                                        always told me

                                                                        to play

                                                                        it safe.

Not fun to me, man. Accidentally throw a piece of paper and

it’s FIVE years.

                                                           Nah. A lot of freedom

                                               here. America is generous.

Our democracy, you pay taxes. They know who you are. I’m

talking about location. They can do that here.

                                                                                How, with

                                                                                        cameras?

Easy. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo. They have all the plays on

a sheet. You think they don’t make money on the side? 40K?

                                                           I don’t know anything

                                                      about football.

I stream everything.

                                                           I don’t watch TV. This

                                                     generation is different.

Learn about yourself and implicit biases. Are you

transactional or transformational?

                                                                   Kid threw a ball

                                                                   at me. Got me

                                                                   hurt.

Everyone is so sensitive. I put the seat down. Flushed and

some water droplets came up. I would have tidied up. Not

opposed to cleaning up. But don’t accuse me. I’m an adult.

                                                     The one I went to in Hayward

                                                                           was nice.

Mine only had one bathroom.

                                                                              Is

                                                                              that

                                                                              legal?

                                                                              The one

                                                                              I     had

                                                                              was

                                                                              close   to

                                                                              a     Taco

                                                                              Bell.

Right. Try a Harvest Snack.

                                                                              No,

                                                           thanks. I already tried.

You sure? The accrual of cancer causing cells. Environment

you live in, and they tell you how long you’re going to live.

                                                                              I have to

                                                           go

                                                                     to the bathroom.

It’s raining magic.