Panic!

We have an attendence policy at the Universidad de Tecnologica de la Mixteca, and while it may seem surprising to have one at the university level, the fact is that if we didn't, noone would come to class. The rule is that students can miss a maximum of 10 classes in the semester, and once they pass this cutoff, the do not have derecho (right). So as we approach the end of the semester (only 3 weeks left!), the students with bad attendence are starting to panic, which means I'm getting a flood of letters from doctors, dentists, and university officials offerering various justifications for the absences. Of course, many of these are forgeries. And not very good ones at that. To be honest, I've even been a little insulted to see how stupid they must think I am by bringing these totally obvious fabrications to me. But it's really more like a game that everyone plays, and if you bust them for it, they just laugh as if to say: "O.K., you got me this time, maestro! But we'll meet again..."