I've had the rare sleeping student but not, thank goodness, the Phantom Professor's starved and fainting student, nor the regularly scheduled sleeper.
And that intelligent woman who regularly scowled at me from the front row for a good chunk of the semester (what could I possibly have said to offend her, I used to fret) — turns out she wasn't scowling at me at all: she was fighting morning sickness.
You just were not aware of the starved and fainting students you have had. I remember sitting in your evening class suffering from hypoglycemia. Due to class scheduling, I had long days there and could barely down subway, rat food or UC food (after eating it during first and second year).
In any event, I clearly remember barely being able to concentrate and scared you would call on me because all I could think about was getting something to eat when I got home. Anyway, my apologies for not participating more in class. I was starving and needed to eat something.
Good grief! You could have brought some candy or a soda! Or if you were worried about the signs that said “NO EATING OR DRINKING” … you might have noticed that I usually brought a water or soda can. If you had asked I would would have said anything quiet (no rustly papers) was fine. (Surely I wasn’t that scary? Even in the dark of night?
Or you could have lawyered the problem, gotten a note from a doctor and then it would have been an ADEA violation to not let you guzzle to your heart’s content…
Many moons ago one of my professors asked me why I kept staring at him all the time. I answered that I just wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Couldn’t tell him the real reason – it was lust.
ej
I think there is a life lesson here, young fella–that person who is reviling and abusing you, chances are it doesn’t have anything to do with you at all (of course it can still be a nuisance if, e.g., the reviler is Saddam Hussein, or your wife).