almost like christmas

I arrived in a classroom, and a strange woman seated near asked me if there was to be a lecture in the room for the next hour. I let her know that, yes, there would be a lecture starting in about five minutes. She said that she better get going. I said, "If you stay, then you'll learn how to make a nuclear bomb." She then quietly got up and left.

And then I looked at a fellow student, who was snickering. "Who doesn't want to know how to make a nuclear bomb?" I wondered aloud. "I can think of no better hook, and she wasn't interested in the information at all!" he added. I continued: "How strange. The secret that makes the political world go 'round, and she doesn't even have a sliver of interest! How could she not be in the least bit curious?! [....] I wonder if she thought it was a joke."