Hyper extended

Sometimes I can't stand to sit at the front desk before and after class. A quiet space would be so appreciated. We have had a lot of new students in the last few days and this is a wonderful thing but a high percentage of them have been very intense people who in the first minutes of meeting tell you things that they should probably be telling thier counselor.

They talk over one another, eyes all fixed on me as I turn from one to the next saying, "um yes you have three classes left, what? um that cd is called embrace, ok there might be a large in the back, your hip hurts? well I'm not a doctor all I can do is encourage you to listen to your instincts and not to push too hard, ok, yes the schedule is the same, ha ha right I see what you mean, uhm I'm so sorry to hear that, wow, you know we have a counselor on staff, right I hear you yes sometimes you just need to get it out there, ok yup see you tomorrow. "

They ask questions I don't feel comfortable answering and won't take empathic listening for an answer. They want to know too much about my private life and stand resolutly in front of the desk while a line of people wait to sign in, demanding I explain again why I don't wear leather boots. (They're very warm, you know.) I get to feeling a little overextended, weighed down with everyone's anxiety and grief and insecurities, looking for a way to be alone.

I don't mean to sound insensative to my students' needs, its that my job is not to address those needs directly but help them to do it for themselves and I am most capable of that during class...when everybody shuts up.