We are starting One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest today and as part of an into activity I emulated Nurse Ratched. They had to stand in an alphabetical straight line and I insisted that it be completely straight. Anyone who talked in any way got their name on the board for detention. I gave people so much grief. I was a nasty witch. I let no one talk in any way. It was scary for me. I had a hard time doing it. By the end I cracked. My face was totally red and I kind of panicked. I had to let them in on what I was doing. We debriefed and talked about the experience. We talked about how they felt. About how much they would have taken before they totally rebelled. I don’t know that they would have though. I think they would have just taken it and taken it. I was really skirting the line of pushing too hard.

It was hard to do. I’m still shaking. They thought it was very impressive though. They liked it as an exercise. Scary.