backhand

it was the day after my introduction of the valedictorian at my school's commencement ceremonies. personally i thought i had done a fairly decent job the night before pointing out some of the chosen one's finer qualities. in my estimation the speech had gone pretty much as well as could have been expected, especially given that it had been delivered in sweltering conditions at the end of a more than two-hour extravaganza of self-congratulatory hysteria. that said, i was still a little dubious when one of my students with whom i ordinarily have very little contact stopped me in the hallway and proceeded to comment on my performance from the previous evening.

she opened the exchange with a perfunctory "good job, last night."

i responded with my patented half-smile, half-smirk. i couldn't think of anything else to say.

"you know what i really liked about your speech though," she continued. "the fact that you sounded so clear and articulate. i mean, to be honest i've never really heard you speak like that before. at one point, i even turned to (another student) and asked her if that was really you up there on stage. quite frankly, i had no idea you could speak so eloquently, sir."

huh?

"i can live for two months on a good compliment." - mark twain

from the five boroughs