What a shock! Not having met Dr. Acton before, I had no idea of what to expect in terms of his appearance, his manners, his methods... Somehow, I had visualized him as being in his mid-40's, well-toned, perhaps 6'3", weighing 200 pounds, with a full head of dark, shining, wavy hair, and a glowing complexion.
Galloping into the room with a quick, direct stride was a man who looked to be nearing 70, about 5'5", 130 pounds, with a huge, shining bald spot trimmed with white hair, and a complexion that clearly had seen many days. Dr. Acton looked remarkably like my paternal grandfather, but he seemed to have two conspicuous attributes that belied any frailties he may have possessed: his hazel eyes radiated with life, and his cheeks formed a ready, easy smile that made him seem personable.
Placing his tattered and worn burgundy leather portfolio atop his desk, he leaned his side against the desk so as to be half-sitting.
"Good evening!" he greeted the class with seemingly sincere enthusiasm. "My name is Dr. Ernest T. Acton, and I am so glad that so many of you made a decision to fit this evening course into your busy schedules. It is a wise move for those of you who are serious about accomplishing things that are important to you in your life."
" 'The Obstacle Course' is a class about dealing with life's happenings and the things you would like to happen," Dr. Acton continued. "If you want this course to be helpful to you, open your mind to it. I will work hard to help you learn."
"Okay, class dismissed!" he said, his voice raising with excitement. "See you next week!" he said, as he grabbed his portfolio and then quickly walked out of the room.
We were all stunned. We could not believe what had just happened: he basically just came in, said 'hello', and left! A few guys in the class quickly ran into the hallway, hoping to corner Dr. Acton and find out why he did that. Most of us just sat there in the room, dumbfounded. We waited a few minutes until our classmates returned with their report: "We couldn't find him! He disappeared!"
"Why did he leave?" we wondered. "Were we victims of somebody's joke?" More than a few students weren't too amused with the evening's events. I must say, I, too, was disappointed.
