Uh Oh! Your Math TA Is in One of Your Other Classes and He Sounds Dumb as Fuck

When you first stepped into your Math 104 recitation and were greeted by Daniel’s awkward half-smile, you didn’t really think much of it: 8 a.m. classes in DRL are a tough look for everyone. Sure, things got a little dicey when he started rambling about how much he hated having to teach Math 240 to a bunch of freshmen, but it’s no secret that Math syllabuses can be pretty tough to follow. 

You even thought that it was actually kind of endearing that he covered half his back in chalk after trying to look cool and leaning on the wall. For some reason, Daniel’s voice was oddly familiar in a “nails on chalkboard” sort of way, but you sort of just chalked it up to the raging hangover you were experiencing.

Unfortunately, these off feelings weren't just a bad hunch. Three day later, as you sat in your intro-level history class doing some self-care online shopping, you heard an eerily familiar voice share that, even though he was happy that the founding fathers had landed on Plymouth Rock as immigrants, he felt uncomfortable that so many illegals were crossing the “Specific Ocean” to enter the country illegally. 

As you turned around to see which dumbass made such an inane statement, you saw Daniel with a confident smile plastered on his face. You immediately flashed back to last week when someone asked why Americans bother learning about the past when the US is already the greatest country in the history of the world. Everything clicked into place: Daniel was probably an idiot. 

Things only got uglier when you overheard him after class arguing that Venezuela was in Africa and that the only positive contribution the French have made to the world was hamburgers??? Maybe he was thinking of french fries? Honestly, who knows. It was a little depressing that you weren't surprised that someone who’d probably fail elementary school social studies got into Penn. But hey! At least all Daniel has to do is teach you how to do derivatives or whatever. 

Oh god, he’s in your recitation too, and now he’s asking about your weekend plans! It’s too late to drop the class, but I’m pretty sure it’s not too late to withdraw. Sometimes you have to take a W to avoid the L.