Brother Can You Spare a Dime?

For some reason my students are fond of “social experiments.”  Maybe they’re just bored, but I think many of them are quite entertaining.  The latest one was to place a tip jar in front of my room and see if I get any tips.  One of my students placed a container marked “Tips” on my desk and put a dollar in.  He said he wanted to see if anybody else would add money, but I told him somebody would steal the dollar.  Along the way, something strange happened.  The container, after two days, is stuffed with slips of paper, on which my students have written out tips for me (there was also the original dollar and another $1.50 in change, plus a piece of gum…not chewed even!)  These slips of paper range from “bring your cat to school” and “wear short sleeves sometimes” to my personal favorites: “don’t impregnate a stripper in Vegas” and “if you see a gun, don’t touch it, back away and tell an adult.”

I think I’ll keep the tip jar out.   You never know, there might be some words of wisdom.