Legal Commentary

. . . is always the very first one.  I love teaching, and the interaction I have with students is without a doubt the most satisfying part of the job for me.  Once a class gets going, I almost always really enjoy it.  But the very first second--that moment where I am forced to say "ahem" or whatever--where I make the transition from private guy, standing there thinking about whatever it is I'm thinking about, maybe it's pizza or a crush I had in eighth grade or last night's House, to public guy who is in charge of running a class about some serious topic for the next two hours or so, is always, quite frankly, a bit terrifying.  There's no going back, once you do the "ahem."  You can't really start talking about the Clean Water Act for five minutes and then say, "umm, do you mind if we stop class for a few minutes so I can think just a little bit more about that crush I had in eighth grade?"

For this reason, I sometimes delay the beginning of the class a little longer than I probably should.  Just a minute or two, but still.  I rationalize this to myself by figuring that I want to make sure everyone who's coming has a chance to come in and sit down, or some other something or other, but really I'm just nervous.  I often wonder (and indeed occasionally pose this question to the class): What would happen if I just stood in front of the class silently, leafing through papers or whatever, for five minutes . . . ten minutes . . . a half an hour after the class is supposed to start?  At what point would the students start to leave?  Would they say anything, or just get up and go?  Would they call the Dean?

Does anyone else feel this way?