I am getting awfully tired of the many emails I have been getting over the past twenty four hours, starting with the woe is me my life is tragic and ending with the pathetic groveling "I would be so so so grateful if you could give me any extra time at all!"

The pinnacle actually ocurred in class the other day, when one of my students was complaining that I couldn't turn on the online quiz which had expired (and he'd had a week to do), exclaiming "Don't they know we have a life?" Before I could even phrase a comeback, he apologized "Sorry. That did not come out right!" He had an amusingly shocked/appalled/ apologetic look on his face. Later, as he was walking out the door with a "Bye Professor" I replied, to the amusement of the rest of the class, "Enjoy your life, John*"

Honestly, I am not going to grade all of the papers in the first few days. Probably not in the first week, even. And it is better to ask in advance then to just not hand it in. So I am granting short extensions. But after awhile it does get tiresome. Learning to manage a work load is part of the process, and they have had this assignment for three weeks now.

Anyway, what do you think would happen if, the next time someone complains when I don't respond to an email within 10 minutes of them sending it, I just said "Don't you understand that I have a life?"