In my college class, someone asked me why I had blue eyes. I said, "My mother had blue eyes, my father had blue eyes, so I have them too."
A discussion ensued. My students started tossing around terms like "recessive" and "dominant." Much talk went on about brown hair, brown eyes, and why just about everyone seemed to have them. One student explained that blue eyes were recessive, and that you needed two blue genes (not bluejeans) if you wanted them.
A girl stood up and got very angry. "My father has blue eyes," she said. "Also, my mother has blue eyes. So you're completely wrong." She glared at the other student with outright contempt.
Fortunately, it was time for oral reports. An Israeli student stood up and gave a description of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as he saw it. And oddly, though I had students from both sides of the border, this presentation was far less controversial than the one about genetics.
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