Today was a day of much learning.

Our last Psychology class of the semester was this morning. We had to do some debates. Early in the year we were divided into groups and given specific topics to work with. The topic I was assigned to was "Genetic Testing Should Not Be Performed on Unborn Babies".

"Ok. Great. Not too hard. I can work with that," I thought. My team was assigned the "Against" position.
"Got it. Against. Sounds good to me."

To show that we were [at least somewhat] prepared ahead of time, we had to hand in a short paper about our research a week ago. I did it, I got it done. Handed in. Swell.

Of course, there was a lot of information to process and being as it was only a short debate, I wanted to make sure I had a strong argument. So I stayed up the entire night last night getting my information together. By 6:30am I was ready to go. I was excited -- I knew I was going to destroy the other team. In fact, after hearing my speech, the entire class would break down and weep, hailing me saviour and defender of the unborn and expert on all things Genetic. Or at the very least offer me a standing ovation, along with a dozen roses and a foot washing.

Just before class began, around 7:50am, my teammate decided to go and talk with the other team we were debating. Though I was out of earshot, I understood that the conversation touched on such topics as how much time was spent preparing for the debate, the general interest in the subject, the current state of world economics, and, finally, being glad that *our* team was on the 'against' side. To which the other team replied, "Well, you do realize you're debating against *the statement*, not against Genetic testing, right?"

Uh. Ahem. Excuse me?!

Let's recap: the statement, as assigned to us, was "Genetic testing should not be performed on unborn babies." And we're against that? Meaning, we're working with double negatives here? So really, my team is supposed to be in favour of genetic testing on unborn babies? Uh oh.

If I remember correctly, the sky opened up above me and God looked down, and, in an almost taunting voice, bellowed, "Ha-ha--Suckaaaa!"

Turns out all of us had been planning, and were ready, to argue the exact same thing. Not too good for an effective and interesting debate...

We went to talk to the teacher, who had a bit of a laugh about it, and admitted that the statement/wording was confusing (note: I personally supervised him as he edited his syllabus, in an effort to protect future classes from doing the same thing). He gave us some time to work on it and see if we could come up with a good "pro-Genetic testing" argument, and then we would debate at the very end of class.

Needless to say, it was pretty sad. We lost the debate (I know, I know--even I was surprised). Of course, the teacher did say he would go easy on marking us, all things considered, which is something of a relief. But geez. I was so prepared--I don't think I ever felt so ready to argue as I did at 6:30-7:50am today. I mean, while walking to school this morning, I had argued myself into submission. That's not an easy thing to do.

So, at the end of the day, as I sit with my pipe and reflect over an open fire on the days events, I come to conclude that there were two life lessons at work in the cosmos this December 9, 2005:

1. Always be willing to go with the flow.
That is not to say do what everyone else is doing; rather, be prepared to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. If your dogs does his business on a busy sidewalk, pick it up and throw it away. Be spontaneous.

2. Don't take things too seriously.
Dogs crap on sidewalks. It's part of the pet package. Get used to it. Life isn't all pretty flowers and cute kittens and happy meals. Make the most out of the depressing, not-so-amazing things. Be creative. When life gives you a bag of lemons, throw them at people. It's funny.