They're everywhere!
A friend of mine who occasionally reads this blog has recently started culinary school. Recently, after hearing me explain the concept of a law school gunner, he became enthralled with the crossover potential of the gunner concept.
So apparently he told his culinary school friends. They loved it. But they also took it a few giant steps further:
Now, when their gunner speaks in class, a large crowd will shout "Bang!" at the end of his question/assinine comment. On particularly gunnerish days, they will mime finger pistols at him every time they see him in the halls. When the gunner argues with other students in class, the other student will fake a painful death and ask the gunner why he shot them.
The moral of this story is two part: a) gunners, beware...the people preparing your food at prestigious restaurants hate your kind too and b) isn't it just like law students to come up with the good ideas, only to fall short on total execution. Had we been doing any of these things in class to our gunners...well....I at least probably would have gone to Crim more often!
Labels: gunners
A New Breed of Gunner
When I
first posted about gunners in the 1L class last semester, I got a lot of responses of people telling me not to worry because they would likely a) figure out they were annoying everyone and shut up or b) drop out/transfer. And to some extent that's true. Word on the streets is that our biggest gunner is indeed trying to transfer, and the other major 1st semester gunners chilled out a bit as the semester went on.
But, now, a month into second semester, a new breed of gunners has sprung up. And just like antibiotic-resistant bacteria, I think these suckers are gonna be harder to get rid of than the original batch.
You know the type. They may have piped up occasionally first semester, but for the most part, they kept a low profile. But now, perhaps emboldened by an A on an exam or a cushy summer job offer, they've decided it's their god-given right to blather on, incessantly, about whatever they like, every single class period. This breed is more agressive than the original gunners as well, frequently dispensing the need to raise their hands or be recognized by the professor.
But perhaps the most puzzling part about the nouveau gunner is that they have no idea that they've become a gunner at all. They made fun of the gunners last semester, and they still sigh and roll their eyes when the old gunners speak. It appears that they have become blinded to their own gunnerish ways. So, as a PSA to all my readers, I offer these helpful tips to determine if you have become a gunner:
1. Have you volunteered in class more than once today? (If yes, +1)
2. Have you done so in more than one class? (+1 for each additional class)
3. Have you spoken without being called on? (+1 for each outburst)
4. When you raise your hand, does anyone groan audibly (+5)
5. Does the professor notably try to call on every single other volunteer before calling on you? (+3)
6. Have you brought up game theory, religion, or philosophy in class to "add" to the discussion? (+10)
More than three points, and chances are you've become a gunner. But don't worry, it's easy to fix: just shut up. It's that simple.
Labels: gunners
This Won't Hurt One Bit...
Ever notice how people only say that right before they do something painful to you? Like give you a shot or rip off a band aid. It always hurts.
But today at least, my first day of class, didn't hurt. I went to three classes, I understood both the readings and the lectures, the lectures confirmed that I got what I was supposed to out of the readings, and the answers I muttered under my breath when questions were asked (still too timid to volunteer) were generally pretty on-target.
So that's a relief. And, in a comic sidenote for the day, the
gunner extraordinaire was forced in Con Law to sit next to an even BIGGER gunner. And so whenever he raised his hand, she also raised hers, and then when the prof looked over to let him speak, she would think the professor was talking to her and would say her useless gunner comment instead. The frustration and annoyance on his face was priceless.
Labels: 1L, gunners
I'm already annoyed...
...at this gunner-in-training. When someone asked if anyone had gotten their books from the co-op yet, he responded:
"You mean you've not read the introductory sections of each of your books yet, as well as memorized the first 5 cases? Uh oh.
I'm glad I went in and got mine, as being able to actually start reading in some of my casebooks is a nice relief. It has helped prevent me from imagining that the courses are going to be some impossibly difficult thing. Unfortunately, it has also confirmed to me that I won't be able to just read through the required reading once and be done with it."
Then, when everyone professed their hatred for him, he responded with this:
"The only restraint I've been exercising about reading the books is that I don't want to read too far in and get stuck with a lot of misconceptions on the material."
Earlier this month, in regards to someone mentioning the socratic method, he said this:
"I don't mind the Socratic Method at all. I'd love to get called on in class every day. Of course, I like to hear myself talk. I will dread when the teacher calls on the dumb student who didn't read the material the night before and also has a stuttering problem. I hope to never sound remotely close to that type of student. I also hope we don't have any in the class."
I've more or less liked everyone in the law school class that I've met so far. But I think this guy is gonna make me want to commit an intentional tort, and I don't mean trespass. And yes, he's in my section.
Labels: gunners
