Island

In the education world, teachers call "a desk that is on its own" an island. That desk is away from any other student. We put students on an island if they are distracting others in hopes to end that behavior. A week or two ago, a student comes up to me and asks if I can tell another student to move his desk back because when he swings his feet, it kicks her desk and bothers her. A few minutes later, that student comes up to me and says, "I don't want to go to an island." I say, "Who said you're going on an island?" He said, "You did." I said, "I never said that. However, I'd give anything to be on an island right now. I don't care if it's Jamaica, Bahamas, Aruba, Bermuda, or Hawaii. I don't know about you, but I'd love to be on an island at this very moment." He didn't respond to that and walked away. I tend to go off on tangents that have nothing to do with the issue at hand if I feel it is minor and I shouldn't have to deal with it. I thought that was the perfect response to my students' "island" issue. Needless to say, he didn't like it, and I'm still not on an island and neither is he.