Yesterday afternoon, a student came to ask for help on the research assignment I had given. We had a half-hour conversation to discuss her ideas and how to organize them when, all of a sudden, my cell phone blared its ring tone while receiving a call. As the phone sang to Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me," my student's eyes widened and she began to laugh.
"What?" I asked.
"You like that song?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"That's a stripper song--" she began. My jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered: "No, I like that song, too!"
"Stripper song?" I gasped with shock. "Nuh-uh. What do you mean a stripper song?"
"I watched them on VH-1, and they said that they wrote that song for strippers. It's their 'stripper anthem.' Seriously! That's what they said."
"I wasn't thinking of strippers when I downloaded this song. I just like the song; it's good rock music."
"I know," she said defensively with a laugh. "I mean, I like it too."
"I was twelve when I discovered their music. The last thing on my mind at twelve years old would be strippers."
"Come on... You're an English teacher. Didn't you read the lyrics?" She proceeds to sing a few words to ruin my innocent interpretation of the song: "Do you take sugar? One lump or two?"
"Stop!" I cover my ears. "A stripper song?" I said with disappointment, and then sighed. "My gosh... how many of my friends--especially guys--have heard this song ringing from my phone and probably thinking I'm a kinky girl? Damn it."
I changed the ring tone already.