It’s alright, it was not during fieldwork, just after hours. It wasn’t even bad. Two people were on their way to have sex and I decided not to have to leave the room whenever my neighbor was in the mood.
Quite a few students use this time to have sex. (I know a pair who got married that way.) Officially, it’s not happening, I guess because students’ parents would disapprove. The problems start when, say, a drunk teacher hits on a student and everybody becomes afraid that this will lead to investigations and the practice will be cancelled forever.* So it’s in everybody’s interests to pretend things are under control.
Back then it was unthinkable for me to just come up to an adult and ask to be assigned to a different room. I was a prude and proud of it, I knew my complaint was just a matter of preferences and if I went through with it the lovers would be punished, and the teachers all seemed so determinedly cheerful. There was no actual reason to involve them.
But then my mother became sick. And if I were a mature human being, I’d go to the Head and say I needed several days off. But I already knew problems get resolved without the Head.
Then there are, of course, occasional tragedies like students falling out of windows and dying. Or dying in car accidents during practice time. The teachers have no power to prevent this, but they will be held responsible. Whenever something like this happens, people start talking about how the practice is too dangerous and completely unnecessary for most future biologists who won’t even work in the field, and how expensive it is for the university.
(The word I heard used was not “clueless”, but “беспечальный”, which encompasses “carefree”, “untroubled” and “sorrowless”. I like “sorrowless” but it’s got too much of a bite.)
It’s alright, it was not during fieldwork, just after hours. It wasn’t even bad. Two people were on their way to have sex and I decided not to have to leave the room whenever my neighbor was in the mood.
Quite a few students use this time to have sex. (I know a pair who got married that way.) Officially, it’s not happening, I guess because students’ parents would disapprove. The problems start when, say, a drunk teacher hits on a student and everybody becomes afraid that this will lead to investigations and the practice will be cancelled forever.* So it’s in everybody’s interests to pretend things are under control.
Back then it was unthinkable for me to just come up to an adult and ask to be assigned to a different room. I was a prude and proud of it, I knew my complaint was just a matter of preferences and if I went through with it the lovers would be punished, and the teachers all seemed so determinedly cheerful. There was no actual reason to involve them.
But then my mother became sick. And if I were a mature human being, I’d go to the Head and say I needed several days off. But I already knew problems get resolved without the Head.
Then there are, of course, occasional tragedies like students falling out of windows and dying. Or dying in car accidents during practice time. The teachers have no power to prevent this, but they will be held responsible. Whenever something like this happens, people start talking about how the practice is too dangerous and completely unnecessary for most future biologists who won’t even work in the field, and how expensive it is for the university.
(The word I heard used was not “clueless”, but “беспечальный”, which encompasses “carefree”, “untroubled” and “sorrowless”. I like “sorrowless” but it’s got too much of a bite.)