The Wages of Technological Sin

Today - right this moment, in fact - I'm giving a midterm exam in one of my large freshmen classes. And naturally, that means today would be the day where my no cell phone policy got to be tested.

Awhile back I started putting the rule in my syllabus that if a cell phone rings in my class, I get to answer it. And sure enough today, ten minutes in, someone's cell phone went off.

It was her father.

You can imagine how mortifying it is, first, to have your professor answer your phone in class. Then to have it be your father so that the professor gets to tell them that your cell phone was disruptive in the middle of an exam. Add to that having everyone in the room as quiet as they've ever been when your cell rang.

You can be sure the rest of the term will be free of that sort of disturbance.