You know that microsecond between catching the reflection in a shop window of a disagreeably tense-looking person — and realising it’s you. It’s that tiny delay before the official censor moves to correct the record. It is the moment when we make assessments that we didn’t know were ours: the moment the unconscious mind blurts it out. Typically this is associated either with a thought too awkward to acknowledge, or with a new opinion to which we are unconsciously moving but not quite ready to declare — even to ourselves.
Such moments are precious. I believe I experienced one yesterday. One of my classes were, as usual, off task and talking about anything other than The Tempest. I usually make a judgement call about these off-task-conversations and they eventually fizzle out and work gets done. However, one boy made a ridiculous comment about the merits of a particular football player and I piped up, without thinking, and said exactly what I thought. This soon escalated into a huge class ‘debate’ and the rest of the lesson was a write-off.
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