When Chemists Attack

I’ve just got to get some of this for my classrooms!

NaturalNano is developing a special high-tech paint that relies on the wizardry of nanotechnology to create a system that locks out unwanted cell phone signals on demand.

As a chemistry teacher, I’m sometimes faced with the dilemma of how to make the material interesting and relevant to students. I’d like to think I succeed more than I fail at this, but there are some things I just can’t compete with.

Case in point – a while ago this note turned up in one of classrooms where I teach. (The names have been changed and one word has an asterisk added to protect the guilty/innocent.)

I’m here in Chemistry and it’s burning inside of me to tell you in some way how much I miss you! I know we are supposed to go to Plan-B, but I can’t deal with this Annie. I miss you so much and no matter what I do I still miss you so. I don’t know if I did anything to start whatever it is you believe you’re doing!? This is killing me. I don’t think I can deal with this kind of interaction with the two of us. I can’t Annie. I’m sorry! I think the main thing is that you don’t tell me anything. I never know. That’s a problem. Why don’t I understand what’s going on. Did we ever have anything right for things to get so bad! Would you just stop being such a hard-*ss!?

Well, we’ve got denial, anger, and bargaining all here in one note!

There I stood thiinking I’d finally gotten one of those guys who sit in the very back of the room (you’ve seen the type if you have been on either side of the podium in college) to actually pay attention and take good notes! Oh well …

This article doesn’t say, but I wonder what kind of conversation a robber has on her cell phone while she’s robbing a bank.

Investigators say they’re not sure if she’s actually talking to someone on the phone or just pretending.

“Hey, girlfriend! Yeah, I’m just robbin’ the Wachovia on Fourth street. Yeah, showed ’em my gun. What, you think they got me on camera? No way!”

I guess I have no hope of getting my students to turn their phones off in class now if it’s socially acceptable to rob banks while chatting on the phone.