Sociology 101

I had my first sociology tute today. Three things stood out:

1. The tutor is the biggest fidgeter I've ever met over the age of eight. He couldn't stand or sit still. The entire lesson he was sitting on his haunches on a chair, rocking and balancing precariously, standing, balancing on one leg and sitting on the table top. It was exhausting just watching him.

2. The building our class is in has the feeling of a condemned shack that feels like it will collapse at any given moment for no apparent reason. Unsurprisingly, it is called the Transient Building. A quick google search revealed that it was built during the second world war to cater for troops away from home (more here). Not only does it look like it was thrown together by a blind recycling-junkie, it is chock-full of asbestos! This means it would cost a lot to demolish due to the risk to workers (although to be honest, I've always wondered to what "a lot" refers). I would submit, however, that the risk of asbestos exposure to students and staff would be significantly higher if the whole building collapsed under it's own pathetic weight. Maybe the university senate should think about that?

3. We did the inevitable introductory crap today--with a twist. We had to introduce ourselves to the person next to us and talk about our hobbies and the like and, since it is a sociology class, explain what we think is the most pressing sociological issue. The guy next to me was Luke. He was in his late 30s (I'm guessing) and seemed really intelligent. He enjoys sport and his most pressing issue was drug abuse among young people, specifically the reasons for which they turn to drugs in the first place. I took a deep breath, aware that he could probably pummel me through the floor, and told him that for me the most pressing sociological issue was homophobia, especially institutionalised homophobia. He nodded sagely. Turns out his brother is gay and he's in total agreement: the whole system of relationship recognition in this country is fucked (and not to mention an international embarrassment), Howard is a homophobic prat, right-wing christian fundamentalism and/or red-neckality (OK, I made that word up just now, he didn't it) is creeping into our government and he's convinced that it's not a choice (because let's face it, who'd choose to be vilified, discriminated against and hated?).

When it came time to introduce each other, he said "This is Dan; his most important sociological issue is homosexuality". It sounded like I was saying I had a problem with homosexuality. I was about to jump in and save myself when he added "and the discrimination that they face in day to day life". Lot of people nodded. My work was done.

So all in all it was a good day.