Tears, Jokes about Tears, and Jokes about Jokes about Tears

I'm actually not proud that I have had a few students cry through the years (invariably upon the return of a test).  However, it is also true that I joke about crying a lot in class.  It is a running gag in my classes that I am cold, heartless and was drawn to the profession by the opportunity to make kids cry.  I think most of the students know I am joking but you never know... teenagers do tend to personalize everything.  One student told me this year: "You know, you are used to making these kind of remarks before you were masking and people could see you smiling while you made them, but now that you mask - we just don't know..."

So I was quite jealous when my colleague showed me that in her end-of-the-year loot, she had a mug titled "for the tears of my students".  What about me?  Isn't this my joke?  Well, when I got home I unpacked a gift from AS and was quite vindicated to see this gem:

Quite the meta statement, is it not?  That twist of capturing them warm... well, now that's just delightfully perverse.

I am so looking forward to sipping from the mug on opening day in the fall while laying out the syllabus in honors physics...