Dude Plato

My grandson has a friend, I'll call Josh, who just turned nineteen, the official age of an adult in Canada. He can now live on his own, which has been his dream for two years. I wished him a happy birthday, and asked him what he had been doing lately because I hadn't seen him for a long time.

"I've been taking a first year Philosophy class downtown. The government pays for it. It's to help young guys to see if they want to go to University or not."

"Oh, that's great," I said. "Do you enjoy it?"

"Yeah, I like it a lot."

"Wonderful," I replied.

"Yeah, we all smoke some weed before class and just chill out while he talks."

All I can do now is picture that poor Professor of Philosophy trying to teach the beautiful words of Socrates, written by Plato, to a bunch of zoned-out teenagers. My heart went out to him.