january 26, 2001. More venting about The Class that Makes Me Angry this morning. We were supposed to be having a general discussion on literacy, but it quickly turned into a bitch session for those of us frustrated with the Class. It's kind of amazing that this awful class is turning into a bonding experience for the department. I suppose that's war-time psychology right there. Other than that, this morning's class was amazingly productive. We got into subject groups to develop a presentation and I ended up having so much fun. There's just something about working with literature majors that makes me so happy. Especially when we're all happy & energetic & bouncing ideas off one another & thoughtfully constructing something really amazing. I'm in a discipline that arranges classes into groups almost every single day, and yet this has been one of the best group experiences I've had all year. This Rent-a-womb stuff doesn't surprise me, not with the near-hysteria I've been hearing in the media from infertile couples. I'm not sure exactly where I stand on this issue: I'd like to be compassionate to couples who have shaped their whole lives towards having children (I'm very Blue that way), but at the same time I think it can be just another example of post-modern consumer culture gone haywire. Children are the most important task we have as a species...but that doesn't mean that they have to fit into our rugged individual ideas about the "rightness" of a certain kind of life. A good percentage of humans can't reproduce, and that's not going to change for our generation just because it's not a nice thing. There are lots of ways to meaningfully interact with children that don't involve you squirting them out yourself. This is basically how I feel when I hear about groups lobbying the government to get health coverage extended for infertility. For heaven's sake, people - stop whining to the government to pay for your own genetically linked baby and go adopt an orphaned child from one of the sadly numerous areas of the world where there aren't enough resources to take care of small children. Sure, they won't be as clean-cut as you. Hey, they may not even be white. But they'll be just as much a stranger to you as a biological child, given enough time. And at least they can't hit you with the "I didn't ask to be born" defence. You'll be all over that one. Link snatched from one Miss Stacy-pants.