I came home the other night and turned on the genkan light, which recently has taken to long pauses of darkness before deciding to come on. So much for the speed of light.

I now wait in the hallway while the light goes through a routine of flickering on and off, a light show of indecision, which eventually results in a willing glow. But I am patient. Because, I am an English teacher.

All day long I stand among the same flickerings of indecision among my students. When called on to answer questions, for example, it can be 15 seconds or more before they answer, if they answer at all.