Indeed, I learned that lesson the hard way. I was a conservative gadfly in a number of college classes back in the day, including one taught by an actual Marxist, beret-wearing liberation theologian. I sh*t you not. I was shocked when I got a C in the class.

I eventually learned it was simply shrewder to mock my professors outside of class to the amusement of all over a beer in the comfort of my dorm room. Easier on the GPA, too, I might add.

I learned the best way to deal with an idiot at the podium was to simple keep quiet and let them finish quickly and move on. God forbid you get the donkey to dig in; you'll never get through the material.

In the workaday world, I devised a "buzzword bingo" card for a corporate restructuring project I was involved in, which we distributed to our participants ahead of our presentations. This was to let them know that while we were going to get through all of our material, we didn't take ourselves too seriously. We gave out prizes. My boss at the time was a guarantee of success -- she was an old canny corporate player and spoke in nothing but buzzwords. If the participants had the sense to ask her questions, they'd win.

The big thing is to remember why you are all in the room together. One side is transferring a credential to another, who has properly learned to recite the proper incantations. It is simply wrong to expect meaning, value, beauty, justice, etc. out of an educational environment. I mean, I don't pick fights with my car mechanic, either. Why pick it with a college professor?

We did the same thing at Fort Benning when I was there for my officer basic course twenty years ago and called it: "Leadership Bingo." Ideology was not so much an issue as simply people that talked just to hear the sound of their own voice.

Robert! That kind of thing will get you expelled nowadays. Keeping lists of fellow students, tsk tsk tst. You are lucky you lived in a more accepting time.

I recall an accounting class in the early eighties where we had a student who responded verbally to every point the teacher made. As the term went on, it became more and more annoying. Finally during one 50 minute class, I counted forty seven interjections by the verbose one, and announced the tally to a friend of mine as we filed out. As luck would have it, the verbose one overheard the score and got the point. We didn't hear another word for the rest of the term.

LMC,

I spent a little time at Benning myself. I would do anything to keep awake during the lectures in Building Snore (as we called Building 4 in those days). I actually had more fun as an enlisted guy at Harmony Church than I did as a lieutenant. But that's some brunch they have at the O Club on Sundays. Wow. I still remember it fondly.

Liberation theology? Shudders My apologies, C.

Funny that you mention this, because it would explain the number of students using the word "bingo" in class these days. The card to use in my class would include the words "juxtapose" and "vis-a-vis".

Isn't it good to know good games never die? We still play this till this day just to get the gunners although now it's called Turkey Bingo to incorporate an even more assanine word in to a comment in class.

One instance that sticks out is when one ring leader of the game, due to some inconsistencies with the score cards, stood up right in the middle of Torts and said "Alright everybody-new game, no points." I'm sure the Prof. knew what he was referring to but still-ballsy to say the least.

Ever notice it is a "staunch" conservative and a "flaming" liberal? I wonder which side of the isle coined the two phrases...