Einstein, Nick and I

When I was a child, I heard or read somewhere that Albert Einstein once checked out a library book, used a fifty dollar bill as a bookmark, and then returned the book to the library with the fifty dollar bill still in it. The honest person who later checked out the book returned it to the library, informed the library of the mistake made by the previous borrower, and the library used their card system to find out who had last used the book. It turned out to be the absent-minded professor, Albert Einstein.

I loved that story and clung to it as the absolute truth, thus easing myself of much guilt and ensuring myself of an almost tiny pleasure in any evidence that might suggest I am a little forgetful.

I am happy to announce that I may have a little genius in my class. He came into the classroom on Thursday wearing only socks, and I inquired, "Nick, where are your shoes?" Nick looks down at his feet, looks up at me and says, "I don't know. Oh! Wait a minute! I must have left them on the bus."

I buzzed the office, the bus driver was contacted, held onto Nick's shoes for the rest of the day, and Nick got his shoes back. I'm hoping that he has not only Einstein's absent-mindedness, but his mathematical skills as well. I will be teaching Nick differential equations by the end of the year.

Uh-oh. Wait a minute. I forgot how to do differential equations. That's kinda like shoes, isn't it?