[@HereComesTheSnow]

[b]Teàrlag Cirsium - "Student Counselor", Armoury[/b]

That's basically the surprise I've come to expect whenever I correct anyone who's buggered up my age (see: pretty much everybody). It's the striking down of his surface-level impressions and assumptions, and as a result his brain's frantically trying to justify that what I said was untrue. Nope, sorry brat, but I'm a decade or so your senior and also one of those folks in charge of marking your essays, teaching you supposedly useful life skills, and doing general counselling stuff to make sure your mental health is at 100%. You might think I'm lying, but you're not gonna be able to get too flapped up about that; there's an ID in my wallet too if you're all doubting and need more evidence. Can't really blame the kid though; if I was in his position, I'd think the stuff coming out of me gob was all woppers too, and you know, being told that you're wrong's humiliating. Your brain hates that, so you try and come up with all sorts of justifications.

It could've been easily avoided if we humans didn't rely so strongly on perceiving what we see first as our absolute truth, but unfortunately, that's a pipe dream. 

At least the kid knows how to apologise. Some of the folks who get my age wrong don't bother with that. That's gold star-worthy, but I don't think I'm taking any of your classes right now (I'd probably learn to recognise that long cowlick pretty quickly), so that mark counts for bugger-all for your assessments.

I wave off his worry. "[color=d8bfd8]It's fine,[/color]" I say, trying to smile reassuringly at him. I'm not much of a smiling person, as people can testify to. None of mine are particularly genuine. A lot of smiles are just another part of somebody's façade, that mask they use to hide everything from others in the world. I have one of those as well, but I don't really do much smiling. Putting one on would just be lying. Still, I'm a teacher now, and as a teacher I have responsibilities. Even if I want to, I can't be all self-centred when I have a duty of care to all these brats who hang around me every day. If I don't be a good role model and follow all the regulations laid out in my contract, I'll be fired! It's in my self-interest to keep being a good teacher, you know?

"[color=d8bfd8]A lot of people get it wrong,[/color]" I add. Need to explain to the brat that he hasn't annoyed me too much. It wouldn't be good if he's too scared to approach my office when he needs some help.