Close encounters of the teacher kind

Two interesting encounters this week:

• I was substituting elementary PE earlier this week, and one student asked, "What's your first name?" I gave my official needs-to-know answer and replied, "Mister." She was persistent, however, and asked, "Are you Eric?" Turns out that she'd gone to the same tutoring center I wok at evenings, and remembered me.
  
• The other night at the grocery store, the bagger asked, "Aren't you Mr. Gjovaag?" (Extra props to her for getting my last name right, since I usually go by Mr. G.) I have been her sub a few times at one of the local high schools. My wife grilled her on what kind of teacher I was. It turns out I'm a good sub, but this student wisely didn't commit to what kind of teacher I am.