Bang!

I'm glad I was able to get out of my office early today; I had the misfortune of being within inescapable earshot of an incredibly annoying conversation.  Evidently, a student of one of my colleagues wrote an essay in which he expressed some disagreement with the philosophy and implementation of gun-control laws.  The professor discussed it with him at length, and as far as I can tell, once you strip away the red herrings about documentation and vocabulary choices:  the teacher's problem with the essay was that she didn't agree with it.  i.e., she is in favor of gun-control legislation, and is sure that all right-thinking people agree with her.  Any essay written against such legislation must be fatally flawed.

My favorite moment was the quibble with the word "primer," which the student explained he used metaphorically -- it's a reference to the part of a bullet casing that starts the explosion.  Frankly, it was a well-used metaphor.  The instructor, however, would have none of it.  When he correctly explained his use of the word, then demurred that not everyone knows firearm terminology, her response was: 
"Do you know how many advanced degrees I have?"

Oh dear.  Once you pull out that lame retort, it's a sign that you need to go out for a walk or something. 

I left before he did, so I wouldn't get my ear chewed off about how dare he believe something like that.