-Good thing I got to the phone first-

If one of your students calls your office to ask you out, it's always better if you're the one who takes the call. It's flattering, I suppose, but potentially flattening. It may have been my imagination, but I thought my coworkers' ears twitched as I politely declined. With any luck, my neutral language choices belied the student's inappropriate question, and my ego is *privately* boosted without consequences.