mf.rox

I’m not a person who gets mad a lot, I think. I tend to think I have more of a slow burn kind of thing — I get mad slowly. But then I get really mad, and stay mad for a long time.

Well, I got really pissed off in this class I am taking now. It’s this undergraduate linguistics class I needed as a prerequisite. Most of the students in it are really good, but there are like three people who are really rude. They sit in the back of the class and talk constantly, making fun of the professor and complaining because they don’t understand anything. I think they think they don’t understand because of the professor, whereas I think the problem really is that they are dumb (and that they never shut up). Since it’s a linguistics class, of course the teacher mentions things in another language, and she showed us examples of something in Tagalog. One of these three dumb people started complaining that they didn’t understand, then raised her hand and asked if Tagalog was a foreign language. Then she was all upset and asked, “Like, do we have to learn this?” Then they all bitched and moaned in the back of the class for a while.

Now, babbling stupidly is one thing, but a lot of the time they are making fun of the professor, and it’s loud enough that she can hear it. Our professor is a Korean woman, and they make fun of her accent and stuff.

Anyhow, on Wednesday, she finished one unit and told us we would begin another. These dumb people actually yelled (really yelled), “No! Let us out now!” and started arguing with her when she didn’t want to. They really wanted to bully her into letting class out half an hour early because their brains were full or something. It’s astonishing that they thought they could do it.

We continued, and they kept complaining loudly, and I turned around in my chair and said (also, very loudly), “You know, I think everyone would appreciate it if you would stop talking while the teacher is lecturing.” The three people started protesting they weren’t talking, they were just talking about the class activity (which they weren’t), and I told them again, “Look. Just quit talking while the professor is giving the lecture.” They started arguing with me, and I just said, “Whatever!” and ignored them. (That wasn’t the most witty reply, but I didn’t want to argue anymore.)

After class, I told the professor I saw sorry if I done the wrong thing, and she actually thanked me, and said she would have liked to have said something to them, but she was too embarrassed.

Now I’m in this state of still being indignant and pissed off about their behavior, thinking I’m in the right, being a little worried everybody thinks I’m a freak, and wondering if those people will say anything to me next week. I did hear one of the girls in question bitching about me to someone (although I would bet some people were glad I spoke up). Of course, I’m wondering what I should say back, etc. It’s probably a waste of time to think a lot about it. But if I do say something, I think I should go with a question, asked in an inquiring rather than hostile way, like, “So, do you think it’s okay for you to laugh at everything the professor says, loudly enough for her to hear you? Do you think that’s okay?”

Ugh! This whole thing upsets me! I never know what to do in this sort of situation. I mean, did I make things better, or worse? Did I make them worse for me? I guess I just have to try to keep my cool. I’m also wondering if I responded in a totally culturally inappropriate way.

I don’t know. I mean, does anyone have any advice about this?