Never Thought I'd Experience That as a TA
Today, I was in the American Heritage Review Room just teaching a review. Nothing new, nothing special. I was teaching about the Great Depression. A normal topic. Nothing new, nothing special. There was a student there who had his son in his arms as he listened and tried to take notes at that same time. At BYU, this isn't that odd. Nothing new, nothing special.
But here's what is new. There is an older man who is a student in American Heritage right now. We will call him Scott (not his actual name). He is a sweet old man, but played for the NFL for many years and, due to many concussions, isn't completely there anymore. He spends several hours each day just wandering around our office. He talks to the TAs and the office staff. He reads the American History books that we have around. Sometimes, he can be a little awkward, but he really is a kind man. While I was teaching my review today, he went up to the student that had the baby and started to kind of play with the baby. Made faces at him and what-not. Then, he took the baby from the father. He then walked to another student (who we'll call Jordan (also not his actual name)) and gave the baby to him. I'm still teaching at this point, but admittedly, I'm a little bit distracted by what is going on.
Then, Jordan starts to kind of look at the father and kind of say with his eyes, "I don't mind holding your baby, but I don't know if you actually want me to be holding your baby." Scott then picked up the baby again and starts to walk out the door with him. At this point, I stop teaching and try to process what just happened. The father of the baby starts to head out the door, trying to make sure that his child did not just get kidnapped. I look to the other TA in the room and just say, "I don't know what to do. Do we have some kind of protocol for this? I mean, when I worked in a hospital, we'd shut the whole place down if this happened."
All that the other TA can do is shrug and kind of shake his head.
The other students who were listening to the review all kind of shrugged. I tried to continue with the review, as I know the father of the baby is on Scott's tail, but I can't stop laughing. "So, John Maynard Keynes... I'm sorry guys. I don't actually know what I was trying to say. I have to figure out where I was."
After the father returned with his son hugged tightly to his chest, I laughed and said, "You're never going to let him go, are you?"
"People at BYU take him from me all the time when they see that I'm trying to write or eat or stuff, but they just stay there and play with him. I didn't expect him to just leave with him. And I'd seen him around here before, so I figured he was a student or that he even worked here."
For the next few minutes, the father just hugged the baby close and whispered to him, "It's okay. You're safe." The baby didn't even cry.
But here's what is new. There is an older man who is a student in American Heritage right now. We will call him Scott (not his actual name). He is a sweet old man, but played for the NFL for many years and, due to many concussions, isn't completely there anymore. He spends several hours each day just wandering around our office. He talks to the TAs and the office staff. He reads the American History books that we have around. Sometimes, he can be a little awkward, but he really is a kind man. While I was teaching my review today, he went up to the student that had the baby and started to kind of play with the baby. Made faces at him and what-not. Then, he took the baby from the father. He then walked to another student (who we'll call Jordan (also not his actual name)) and gave the baby to him. I'm still teaching at this point, but admittedly, I'm a little bit distracted by what is going on.
Then, Jordan starts to kind of look at the father and kind of say with his eyes, "I don't mind holding your baby, but I don't know if you actually want me to be holding your baby." Scott then picked up the baby again and starts to walk out the door with him. At this point, I stop teaching and try to process what just happened. The father of the baby starts to head out the door, trying to make sure that his child did not just get kidnapped. I look to the other TA in the room and just say, "I don't know what to do. Do we have some kind of protocol for this? I mean, when I worked in a hospital, we'd shut the whole place down if this happened."
All that the other TA can do is shrug and kind of shake his head.
The other students who were listening to the review all kind of shrugged. I tried to continue with the review, as I know the father of the baby is on Scott's tail, but I can't stop laughing. "So, John Maynard Keynes... I'm sorry guys. I don't actually know what I was trying to say. I have to figure out where I was."
After the father returned with his son hugged tightly to his chest, I laughed and said, "You're never going to let him go, are you?"
"People at BYU take him from me all the time when they see that I'm trying to write or eat or stuff, but they just stay there and play with him. I didn't expect him to just leave with him. And I'd seen him around here before, so I figured he was a student or that he even worked here."
For the next few minutes, the father just hugged the baby close and whispered to him, "It's okay. You're safe." The baby didn't even cry.
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