Frazz by Jef Mallett for April 28, 2023

Procrastination is it’s own reward!

Good, because instant gratification takes too long.

That pretty much seems to be at least part of his goal every time Caulfield talks to Mrs. Olsen.

And what did she give you

An essay no school kid has ever been asked to write.

I can’t wait to read his paper on ‘delayed gratification’ when he is a junior in collage.

Eventually.

That’s Caulfield in a nutshell, unfortunately.

Mrs. Olsen would remember Caulfield as one of her most challenging and interesting students because his efforts to flummox her take effort, are mostly original, and are very rarely outside the bounds of good behavior. Most of us who spent years as teachers can call up a roster of similar personalities and examples.

Made the job interesting and challenging, despite the low salaries, the really dumb regs from the DOE, especially the Standards of Learning, [SOL’s – one truly appropriate abbreviation, given it’s other iteration. : ) ], and citizens who showed little or no respect for our profession. [Those are the memories that faded first]

So, hang in there, Caulfield. It ain’t the win or loss record that counts. It’s the game.

He wanted the instant gratification of the look on her face rather than the delayed value of increased wisdom.

Gratification is OK, Caulfield. But I guess delay in having it is not.

Is Caulfield going to be the janitor in 15 years? Taking the baton from Frazz?

 Top 10 Reasons to Procrastinate:

1.

She’s kind of long-suffering that she keeps him talking. She probably knows a smart-mouth needs a lot of practice – to become sufficiently smart to learn when to stop and have the enraged fall victim to their irateness.

The classes are too easy.

Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems like there’s a flawed assumption: that writing an essay is gratifying (or maybe the gratification comes from finishing it, and it wasn’t worth the delay…)

How often can you enjoy watching eyes rolling?