Thursday, November 17, 2011

Suite Life

In the middle of class today, a cell phone rang. Now, that's not too unusual. Every high school student has a cell phone, and most adults carry cell phones. And, even where I work, which is an institution teaching English to adult immigrants and refugees, most of our students carry cell phones.
Cell phone etiquette is often a topic of discussion here between students and teachers. Periodically a phone will ring and a student will blurt out, "Africa calling. I talk now." The teacher then directs the student out into the hall, to complete the transcontinental connection.
But today, the ringing phone just tickled my funny bone. The ring tone seemed so out of character for the setting. The ring tone was Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies Theme" from "The Nutcracker Suite". The bearer of the cell phone, can speak and understand only a few words of English.
I didn't have a chance to ask her why she had chosen that particular ring tone? Did she just enjoy the music? Was she familiar with "The Nutcracker". Were fairies or dancing toys part of her native culture? I'll probably never know.

Great and all knowing God. You challenge our simple minds with all sorts of conundrums. Life is such a delicious cornucopia of experiences. We thank you for all of our experiences and surprises. Your blessings abound.

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