I don’t know what they were talking about.
Maybe it was the red and green streamers that several of the boys had put up in the room. Or maybe it was the fancier streamers that several of the girls had put up on the other side. Or maybe it was something about the cookies we had. Or the juice. Or all the wrapped presents we gave to the family we adopted this year, how they filled three big boxes to overflowing. Or maybe it was just some nicety at the end of class after the bell had wrung. I just don’t remember.
One of the boys was talking about something I had done. Or something I said. I just don’t remember. But it was something about me. He said, “Mr. Hasan just …”
And although I was not part of the conversation per se, seeing as they were only four feet away, I said (without looking up from the late homework some other student had just given me), “Yes, Mr. Hasan did.”
Then one of the other boys said, “Mr. Hasan just used the third person to refer to himself.”
To which I said, “Indeed he did.” The boys laughed.