Strange conversations

I’m still at the 2017 AP CS Principles reading. CSP is still in its infancy, which means that things are still being worked out and that some compromises are being made. Given who I am, I have not been quiet about my perspective on these compromises. For example, you may recall that the chief reader expressed surprise on the one day that I did not complain or raise issues. Certainly, one of the folks from the College Board has not been happy with the concerns I’ve raised about consistency.

Given that context, I was quite surprised to have the following conversation today.

College board person [1]: Sam, do you teach high school or college?

Me: College. I’m at Grinnell.

CBP [2]: You just remind me of one of my son’s favorite high school teachers. Like him, you seem to take great joy in what you do and make things that seem tedious fun.

Me (thinking to myself Hasn’t he heard me ranting multiple times each day for the past week?): Really?

CBP: Yes. Like yesterday, when the Chief Reader said I’m not sure why I asked some of you to be Table Readers [3] and you immediately raised your hand to indicate that he meant you.

Me (thinking to myself I was serious.): Oh?

Me (wondering who he has me confused for): Thank you.

CBP (in storytelling mode): You really do remind me of that teacher. […] and the teacher dressed up as a Hobbit when they were reading Tolkien and as […]. When they went for coffee one morning in their costume, they completely confused the barista …

Me (wondering if he knows that my friends used to call me Samwise and that I wear a Tigger suit to class): Oh. People in Grinnell are used to it by now when I wear a costume in town or in class. It doesn’t surprise anyone.

CBP: In any case, it’s nice to see that you’re having fun and making it fun for others.

Me (pondering whether I should bring the Tigger suit next year): Thank you.

What am I doing wrong? People should know that, at heart, I’m a grumpy, old, curmudgeon.

Perhaps I should have said what I thought at the end-of-day meeting when another person from College Board [4] made a series of completely infuriating comments that had me fuming. That would reveal the real Sam.

[1] Not the one mentioned above.

[2] College board person.

[3] Like the rest of the conversation, that quotation is paraphrased.

[4] The one who is sick of hearing my comments.

Version 1.0 of 2017-06-16.