ahhhh the things I overhear at school…

So, I’ve been overhearing plenty of odd things at school. There was yesterday’s “It’s like saying you were born racist” and I got another gem today.

We had a free day in one of my classes today, and I pulled out my spindle (a threads thru time medium turkish) and started spinning. I got some of the usual wtf is she doing comments, and I overheard someone ask their neighbor what I was doing.

“ooooooo! Look at her, what is she doing?”

“She’s using the spin to pull string out of the wool”

“Like Rumpelstiltskin and the gold!!”

Now, before I go further into the conversation, I want to say that I was actually really impressed with the explanation and the connection to Rumpelstiltskin. Usually when other people try to explain what spinning is, they say something like “She’s using a bobbin to make thread” or something of the like, none of which make any sense. “Using the ‘spin'” is what I am most impressed with. She got the idea that the twist is what holds the yarn together (most people really struggle with that.) And I was verysurprised to hear her call what I was spinning wool (it was merino) usually when I spin wool, people insist on believing that it is cotton. And it takes people a long time to associate what I do with stories like Rumpelstiltskin or Sleeping Beauty usually. So far so good, but one of the people in the conversation had her earbuds in, so thought she was talking much quieter than she actually was. I could hear her from across the room.

Back to the conversation that I really shouldn’t have heard. (In my defense, it is so easy to overhear when everyone thinks that you are so intent on your spinning/knitting/crocheting that you can’t hear them)

“Wow, that is soooo cool!”

“You know she’s an atheist?”

/gasp/”Oh my god, really?”

“Mmm Hmmm”

At which point I have to admit that I smiled a little evily. It was more of a smirk really.

It’s always weird to hear yourself being talked about (though I hardly think that my atheism is juicy gossip, I am very out about my non-belief) but this was just funny. “Oh my god” seems to me to be a pretty funny response to learning about someone being atheist. Maybe by calling upon their god they will somehow cleanse the unholy one’s soul? I dunno. Or maybe it is ironic, using the lord’s name in vain to express your feelings about atheism? Either way I found it pretty dang funny. It was made even funnier by the fact that the person who did not know about my atheism must be completely oblivious. We talk/ debate about current events a lot in that class, and I have come out as atheist many a time. It shouldn’t be a shock to her, as she has been in that class all year…

whatever.