When I was in highschool, a student I was sat next to found out I was an athiest. He rotated a full 90 degrees in his chair at me, and with an excitement shared only by inventors and engineers finally getting to see their ideas actually working in the real world, he asked me: “Where did dirt come from?”
I told him, “I don’t know what dirt is.”
Quizzically, “Dirt. Like, in the ground.”
I tapped my shoes on the floor. “Home Depot.”
This was, apparently, as far as his anime-villain machinations could take him. He quietly rotated back to the table and drew a school bus or something—I don’t remember what we were doing in art class.
Far from the worst encounter a person could have, but I think about it all the time.
If I had a nickel for every time I had that conversation…
When I was in highschool, a student I was sat next to found out I was an athiest. He rotated a full 90 degrees in his chair at me, and with an excitement shared only by inventors and engineers finally getting to see their ideas actually working in the real world, he asked me: “Where did dirt come from?”
I told him, “I don’t know what dirt is.”
Quizzically, “Dirt. Like, in the ground.”
I tapped my shoes on the floor. “Home Depot.”
This was, apparently, as far as his anime-villain machinations could take him. He quietly rotated back to the table and drew a school bus or something—I don’t remember what we were doing in art class.
Far from the worst encounter a person could have, but I think about it all the time.