Colder Calls in Boston

Since I was thinking on posting about exactly the same thing this week (and am obviously too lazy to come up with a new topic): Cold Calls Part II. In Boston, they are a little colder than New Haven. Like the weather, I guess.

Cold calling, obviously, varies a lot from class to class. There is one professor who sort of lets you know ahead of time if you're going to be on deck by picking people who are associated with the case of the day. For example, if the case set is in Idaho, and you're from Boise, it's better to pay close attention to the reading. However, this doesn't always work. Rumor has it that during the class on International Shoe, he looked at a girl in the front row and said "X, I see you're wearing shoes. Care to enlighten us on the background to this case?" Another professor literally calls on every single person in the room during every class.

Sarcasm levels vary a lot also. I think that the vast vast vast majority of professors are extremely gentle with people who are having trouble, and move on quickly if you can't answer the question. There are, though, one or two who I'm pretty sure feel nostalgic for the days of the Paper Chase. After all, twenty years ago many of them were sitting more or less in exactly the same seats we're in now. And their professors were not nice, or so we've been told. Consequently, every now and then, you hear of a professor saying something on the extremely sarcastic side. For example, I've heard the following exchange took place after a professor asked a yes/no question.

Hapless Student: Is the answer...yes?
Professor Snark: Could you come up with a shorter and more accurate answer?