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....thing anybody has ever said to you?
When I was at Smithills in the 80's, we had a Physics teacher called Mr Rawlinson.
He was basically ok but several of us in 5B took it upon ourselves to try and wind him up from time to time because he was a bit stiff.
Us: "Sir! If natural gas is odourless and you can't see it, how can you tell it's there?"
Rawlinson: "Well......they test for it with gas meters and other equipment."
Us: "Gas meters, sir....? Like the one we've got under the stairs? Bit cumbersome, surely....?"
Rawlinson: "No, not gas meters like that. Meters that read background levels of gas and indicate what's there."
Us: "But how does the meter detect it if it can't see or smell it?"
Rawlinson (now becoming slightly irate because he can tell we're taking the piss): "It analyses the air and detects what's in it."
Us: "So if a small bird flew past, would the meter detect it?"
Rawlinson: "What...?" No, of course not!"
Us: "But you can see birds, sir, and you can hear them too. Why can't the meter detect them if it can pick the gas up? Is it broken, sir?"
Rawlinson (face now red and teeth starting to clench): "No, it's not broken, it's simply not calibrated to detect Finches or Sparrows!"
Us: "What about bigger birds like Crows, sir? Would it stand a better chance of detecting them?"
At this point Mr Rawlinson "lost his shit", as I believe the current vernacular goes and bawled at us:
"You boys are being deliberately obtuse!"
Us: "Like the angle, sir?"
Rawlinson: "No, not like the bloody angle!"
And this is where the random comment thing comes in.
He then launched into a five minute rant about "boys who should appreciate the opportunities they were being given" and ended by shouting:
"I bet you don't even wear carpet slippers at home, do you?"
And this was the bit that stopped us dead.
Carpet slippers.....?
Thirty years on, I'm still trying to work out what that meant and it remains one of the most random comments ever directed at me.
Anybody else got anything similar?
When I was at Smithills in the 80's, we had a Physics teacher called Mr Rawlinson.
He was basically ok but several of us in 5B took it upon ourselves to try and wind him up from time to time because he was a bit stiff.
Us: "Sir! If natural gas is odourless and you can't see it, how can you tell it's there?"
Rawlinson: "Well......they test for it with gas meters and other equipment."
Us: "Gas meters, sir....? Like the one we've got under the stairs? Bit cumbersome, surely....?"
Rawlinson: "No, not gas meters like that. Meters that read background levels of gas and indicate what's there."
Us: "But how does the meter detect it if it can't see or smell it?"
Rawlinson (now becoming slightly irate because he can tell we're taking the piss): "It analyses the air and detects what's in it."
Us: "So if a small bird flew past, would the meter detect it?"
Rawlinson: "What...?" No, of course not!"
Us: "But you can see birds, sir, and you can hear them too. Why can't the meter detect them if it can pick the gas up? Is it broken, sir?"
Rawlinson (face now red and teeth starting to clench): "No, it's not broken, it's simply not calibrated to detect Finches or Sparrows!"
Us: "What about bigger birds like Crows, sir? Would it stand a better chance of detecting them?"
At this point Mr Rawlinson "lost his shit", as I believe the current vernacular goes and bawled at us:
"You boys are being deliberately obtuse!"
Us: "Like the angle, sir?"
Rawlinson: "No, not like the bloody angle!"
And this is where the random comment thing comes in.
He then launched into a five minute rant about "boys who should appreciate the opportunities they were being given" and ended by shouting:
"I bet you don't even wear carpet slippers at home, do you?"
And this was the bit that stopped us dead.
Carpet slippers.....?
Thirty years on, I'm still trying to work out what that meant and it remains one of the most random comments ever directed at me.
Anybody else got anything similar?
