An odd time for sternness

During a middle school history class, the teacher told us about a group of people who, after being shipwrecked, got so hungry they ate each other.  Predictably, much of the class started groaning and saying, "Ew!" or "Gross!"

The teacher, who only became cross occasionally, lit into the class.

"Now, look!" he said.  "I'm not saying what they did was right, but think about what you would do if you were in that situation!"

Strange that it took the class's resistance to cannibalism for the teacher to admonish us...

Finishing the sentence XCVI

From February 1993: Another unfinished sentence I wrote and its responses:

Let's set the record straight.  There's no credible evidence that supports...

...Europe being an actual continent and not a peninsula. (Paris A.)

...the claim that -1 times -1 equals +1.  This is a pet peeve of one of my friends, who, despite years of explanation from various sources, still cannot accept this fact. (Jeff B.)

...the existence of anything beyond the fantastic generation of our neurosis-contaminated, innately schizophrenic minds. (Randy R.)

Purposely vague dialogue department V

More deliberately ambiguous dialogue I wrote and responses to it from April 1993:

A: Here we are.
B: Yes.  We're here.
A (sighing:) Well, I guess there's no use stalling.
B: No, I guess not.
A: I mean, other people have faced far worse things than this--right?
B: Ummm...Well, yeah, I guess so.
A: Of course they have!
B: It was just a simple misunderstanding.
A: Sure; we'll have this cleared up just like that.
B: How could we not?
A: We'll just march right in and lay it on the table.
B: Exactly.  We're not the ones in the wrong here.
A: That's just how I see it.  So, let's go ahead...
(A and B don't move.)
B: You wouldn't want to...you know...
A: ...think this through some more?
B: Yeah.
A: No!  We've come this far...Oh...I don't know.
B: Let's not go in just yet.
A: No, let's wait...

Questions: Who are A and B?  What or whom are they about to confront?  Why do they think they're in the right?  What convinces them to wait before going in?

Responses:

...A and B are suspects in an investigation of some heinous crime--murder, procrastination, smoking around non-smokers--that they may have committed with good reason, possibly even through ignorance of the rules.  But the people they have to face are the types who have power to punish and always think they're right.  So, A and B are pretty sure they'll be implicated. (David R.)

...A and B are lovers.  They are about to confront C, B's old lover.  C betrayed B with D, and A and B have decided to shoot C in the kneecaps for revenge.  They were thwarted by D and his large dog, who came to C's rescue bearing mace and a penknife.  They hesitate to go back and try to work things out with C because D is still violently disgruntled and protective of C. (Liz F.)

Exasperation in another language

When you're learning a foreign language from a textbook, the sentences you learn have to include only words you've learned up to that point and incorporate the current chapter's vocabulary words heavily.  Consequently, in high school German I class, one of the paragraphs we learned, when translated into English, read like this: "We went on a picnic.  Everyone brought food.  No one brought drinks.  Dieter called us idiots.  Naturally, he was right.  We knew that, too."

Nearly 32 years later, I still remember that tale of the poorly planned picnic.  People often referred to each other as sick, lazy, and tired fairly often in that textbook, as well.  I often wondered how our German I class would have fared in Germany, with these disjointed memories of the language standing out so prominently.

Finishing the sentence XCV

In Finishing the sentence LVI, I posted the responses I received to this sentence in 1988.  Here are responses I obtained when I reran it in 1993:

The key to a stress-free life is...

...trusting in God. (Chad A.)

...complete unawareness of your surroundings. (Liz F.)

...to become a pampered house pet. (Molly H.)

...not to have one at all. (Paris A.)

...to remember that you are not intrinsically bound to any career, lifestyle, place, or person.  If one's situation becomes too stressful, one should always remember that steps can be taken to change or leave that situation. (Jennifer D.)

...listen to blues very much, eat SpaghettiOs at least once a week, sing in the shower, taste a buttercup, pet the stray cats, have a beer, and put your feet up. (Karen B.)

...death?  No, seriously, when someone finds the key, can I make a copy at the local hardware shop? (Rachel N.)

It's also for the best...

...that the urge to ask your fellow students, "What number are you on?" when working on an in-class math assignment usually subsides after middle school.

It's for the best...

...that the urge to announce, "Turned right to it," when you open a textbook randomly to the page the teacher announces fades after middle school.