Response to Shabeg's "The Ballad of Brendan O'Hoolahan"

First of all, I would like to praise Shabeg for dividing up his tale into different class periods. I find that very, very clever, and think it speaks to what reality is (because reality changes from class period to class period, even when the protagonist stays the same).
One thing I have to put out there is that I found some of the teacher-student interactions a little unbelievable. But, the thing is, I didn't mind. I didn't mind at all, actually. If we are seeing the world through his perspective (which we are, in a sense), it would make sense to show an exaggerated response from a teacher or some projection of issues on another character or setting. What would be yelling to Brendan might not be yelling to someone else, but that's one of the interesting things about "reality."
Going off of the professor theme, I am very impressed of how much I know about each of the professors simply by the way they act. The shouting of the Home Economics teacher was hilarious, considering his background, as was the English professor, who favored the women in class because of her own screwed up relationships. Teachers, just like students, project their emotions on their environment, and Shabeg demonstrates this well.
The "Break" scene was a nice addition, because we got a glimpse of the social situation at Brendan's high school, and some of the issues he's dealing with at the time. Seeing how easily he caves in to the date request is a little absurd, but it's feasible, and would highlight his passive nature. Passivity really speaks to a student's nature, because, when it gets down to it, we're totally at the disposal of our professors. If they favor someone else, there's nothing you can do about it. If they call you out for not doing the reading, you just have to take it. Students don't have power; their professors do. Employers have power, too. I really, really liked the addition of a workspace situation, because it speaks to how helpless we as subordinates feel.
Sometimes, days suck. Shabeg demonstrates this very well. I was afraid, for a while, that the end of the story would be a suicide. I am very, very happy it didn't end that way. Acceptance of a shitty place in life is so much worse, in a sense, than suicide. It's also much more common.
This story kept me interested the entire time. I am honestly quite impressed. He uses a voice students (and probably anyone who's been through school) can relate to, and he deals with issues very personal to all humans.