Ghosts of Composition Classes Past

My wife and I were in Home Depot this evening, and a young female salesperson said a friendly
"Hi," as though she knew me.

My wife said, "Was that a student?"

I said, "I don't recognize her."

But when I asked the student if she had gone to PCC, she said yes, and that she had been in my Grammar and Composition Review course several semesters before. I had taught her to write a good essay, and she was preparing to transfer to Cal State Northridge.

"When I'm not in school, I'm here," she said. She was in her orange work apron.

The student was quite friendly and helpful, we joked a bit, and she got us the price on a folding chair for the porch. Unfortunately, the only boxed chairs were palleted out of reach on a high shelf. She told us to wait.

I went to check out the cacti, and when I returned, there was the student driving a forklift. "I just got my license for this," she beamed. With the help of a supervisor, she maneuvered the thing into position and got the pallet of chairs down. The supervisor proposed that we buy two now that 12 or 15 were available, so we did. I mean, what if both my wife and I wanted to sit on the porch, contemplating intellectual stuff, as we do so often?

I hyped my student lavishly to her supervisor. "She has extraordinary powers of persuasion. We were only going to buy one." Even though he had been the one to suggest it, I supposed he would credit her.

But more important was the forklift driving. I'm always looking for practical ways to motivate my students to take their essay-writing seriously. I had one here: "Learn the essay, drive a forklift." It made sense: identifying your territory (Home Depot required that they fence customers out of the work area for safety), the introductory maneuvering and jockeying for position, elevation of the forks as you build toward a climactic moment, the sense of timing, the satisfaction and relief when you bring your load to solid ground. And then the concluding pitch: this was good, buy two.

"I'm so proud of you," I told her. "You put my class to good use."