Curiosity Killed the Class

Something that can frustrate me sometimes is people's curiosity at inopportune times. Minnesota is pretty infamous for this. I especially notice this during rush hour. A car accident is never the sole problem for stopping traffic. The real problem is when people slow down to see who probably hit whom, how bad the accident is, etc.

Since arriving in Turkey, I've seen my fair share of situations requiring an ambulance. Mostly, these situations involve car accidents, motorcyclists getting hit, etc. An interesting phenomenon that usually happens when an ambulance is called, is that people come out of the cracks to stand around the ambulance watching. Never once have I seen these people actually helping. They simply form a semi-circle around the back door of the ambulance, straining to see inside, waiting for a glimpse of what? I don't know, until the ambulance doors close and it drives away.

Yesterday during class, an ambulance pulled up right next to the window of our classroom. I had noticed it but didn't draw attention to it, knowing the interruption that it would cause for the class. A group of ten students had already formed outside our window, behind the ambulance. In the middle of an activity, the students realized something was happening outside, and all ran to the window to see what was going on. I tried to get them to sit down and continue working, but at all times, at least three people were at the window giving a play-by-play. By this time, at least fifty students were all huddled around the ambulance outside. I asked my students over and over to sit down. One girl finally said to me, "Aren't you curious? Aren't you worried that it is someone you know?" "If it is," I said, "I'll find out later!" She looked at me like I was the coldest, most heartless person she had ever met.

The class would not relax until the ambulance was out of sight and the crowd outside our window was gone. My class was ruined, my students thought me heartless, and we found out nothing about the accident by watching out the window. Whether it was my impatience with my students or impatience with this curiosity at inopportune times that upset me so much, I don't know. Either way, I guess I need more patience!