M. Suzanne Terry

I am feeling a bit curmudgeonly today. I’m avoiding Facebook for the afternoon after a morning of frustration with my news feed. Five things I don’t understand about people today:

1. Freaking out over “new math.” First, it’s not new. It’s the same numbers and same concepts being taught a different *cough* more comprehensive/logical *cough* way. Second, while I understand being frustrated with learning a new way of doing things, I don’t get the compulsion to call other ways of doing things “stupid” just because one does not automatically understand it. Third, I like new math. It’s the way I do math in my head. If math had been taught to me that way, I might not have been so bored in math class. In fact, if the fun I had from the two times I can remember someone approaching math this way in class (once in Coach Depew’s geometry class when he challenged me to argue and defend my answer against his and once in pre-calculus when the professor showed us how Pythagorean theorem was discovered) is any indication, I might have enjoyed it enough to go into a math-related field. Who knows what I could have done with that?! And finally, telling your children how complicated and stupid it is? Not exactly conducive to learning. Stop it. Stop it immediately.
2. Speaking of an aversion to learning – getting upset when a professor gives you a challenging assignment or one that’s not precisely in your comfort zone. I do understand if someone has undergone a specific trauma how said person might have an interest in avoiding a few specific things that force her/him into reliving said trauma. Fine. But complaining because an assignment is hard? Um…THAT’S WHAT COLLEGE IS FOR. That is how you learn. That is an example of professors doing their jobs well. If a college class is easy and never requires you to do something that stretches or challenges you, your professor is doing it wrong.
3. Uggs. Yes, the boots. I don’t understand them. They look like some sort of bloated root vegetable. Also, it is not now and rarely is cold enough in Texas to wear them.
4. Spontaneity. This one, I actually want an answer to. How does it work? Do you just not make plans and hope something happens to fill the time? Or do you have to be one of those terrible humans who is comfortable flaking out on plans you’ve made whenever something more exciting comes along? “Are you free tonight?” No. Forever no. Even if my plans are to spend the evening at home, by the time one asks this question, I already have my head wrapped around what I’m going to be doing at home, so if I cave to peer pressure and go with them, I will spend most of the time trying to figure out when I’m going to get done what I abandoned in order to hang out with someone who didn’t even want to hang out with me enough to make actual plans to do so. I would like to be more spontaneous, as it’s supposed to be fun. I just don’t get how.
5. Being a regular at the gym. At least, I didn’t understand it until I read this beautiful piece. Now I can sort of see how such a thing would happen. I mean, I’m still not gonna. But I can kinda see it.

What don’t you understand? Let’s help each other out.