yet another reality check

An older student in my class (he's about my parents' age) just stopped by my office hours and told me that he might not be in class on Friday because he needs to take his wife to surgery. He stopped by not to ask me questions, but to drop off his paper early so he wouldn't get penalized for it being late.

My own response was completely inadequate. I said something about his thoughtfulness in turning in the paper early, and he responded something to the effect of okay, have a nice day.

There are many, many days when the idea of taking a paper on Moll Flanders seriously seems like a big joke.