what?

“How long have you been married?”

I was teaching in a foreign land, where they ate funny food and talked in a dialect. It was Texas. (that is a joke, do not throw rocks).

As a graduate student I taught two classes a semester, in addition to my own class and studio work. I received a small stipend, and my our of state fees were waived, and that included Miriam as well. My classes were always in Basic Design, among the firsts art classes incoming freshmen took. Classes ran from 20 to 25 students, and since it was a studio class, each was 2 hours long, three days a week. We spent a lot of time together.

A class like this has to be fairly informal. I would walk in the room the first day, write “DAVE” on the board, and we would begin (policies on names vary by schools, this one was very relaxed). I was a pretty tough teacher, I expected wonderful results, and pushed and pushed. They in turn, went beyond my expectations.

In time one of the students, usually a girl, would ask the question. It was time for a tall tale. " How long have you been married, Dave?"

I would give the right number of years, then . . .

“Well in Idaho, we still have arranged marriages.” They knew nothing about Idaho, it could have been on the moon for all they knew. “And I was 9 when we were married.”

“OK.”

The idea had to incubate a bit. Usually it took two or three days, and one of the students would say: “What was that you told us the other day about marriage?” I tried to look innocent.

“That was not true!”

I was had. We all laughed deep and long.

As a teacher I put my finger in their brain and stirred. My teaching supervisor said my reviews were higher than many of the full time faulty. It was a good experience and I enjoyed it more than I can say. I was a natural college teacher who never quite made it to the Bigs.

I could spin yarns if I wished, but they would always catch me. I liked that. They were good people and good students. I miss those days.