Primrose Road

Bear with me while I set up an allusion: Way back in the day (like, seven years ago), Chris Isaak starred in a Showtime comedy as (sort of) himself. In one episode, a stalker keeps leaving gifts, including a loaf of banana bread, on his doorstep. Chris later sees one of his bandmates eating the bread, and says something like, "Are you eating the stalker bread? You can't eat the stalker bread!"

Late last week, in what I'm going to assume was a cultural misunderstanding, a student gave me a gift-wrapped bottle of wine along with his final portfolio. I told him I couldn't accept it, but he insisted, so I went to give the wine to the department administrative assistants, who said that since I obviously understood the ethical wackiness of the situation and wouldn't let the wine affect the student's grade, I should take it home with me.

So now I wonder: is drinking student-bribe-wine the equivalent of eating stalker bread?