Читать книгу A Legacy Unrivaled. The Story of John Gagliardi онлайн

18 страница из 56

Next, John asked Mark, another one of my students, to stand up and introduce his new friend to the class. Mark stood up, looked at John, and began the introduction. “Hi, I would like you to meet—”

“Don’t look at me,” John interjected, “look at her. She is better looking than I am.” The class laughed, and Mark was relieved when he could sit back down a minute later.

“Okay, I have a theory—if you stick around long enough, you get a lot of theories. Why do women smile more than guys?” John paused and the class sat quietly, not sure how to answer. “I think they wake up and think, Gosh, it’s good not to be a guy.” As the class chuckled, John looked at one of his players seated in the front row and said, “When is the last time you smiled, Wade? Last week?” Wade, a junior tight end, grinned and nodded his head, playing along gracefully.

John got just a tad serious for a moment. “There are a lot of people on the waiting list for this course, so you are not to miss any classes. It is too important, and there are many people who would like to take it. I will accept reasonable excuses, like a job interview for you seniors. Or a death—your own.” As the class laughed again, I smiled to myself. When I tell students I expect them to attend every class, the news is usually met with a bunch of blank stares. John laid down the law in a way that produced smiles in return. I made note to remember that for use in my own classroom.