Kids

Day Two: Things started off a little rough. 

There was an accident on the way to school, so I hopped off the highway and took the back roads - back roads which were under construction. I navigated the detours (plural) and managed to hop back on the highway just ahead of the accident. 

But all the meandering put me about 30 minutes behind. And, by the time I got to campus, the only place free in the parking garage was on the roof.

On the brutally, miserably, mercilessly cold roof.

I ran down five flights of stairs (Ah! Ah! Ah!), and ran to class chugging lung-fulls of bitter icy air. I got in just in time for class, but too late to get a seat. No matter. I stood in the back and tried not to breathe too hard.

The professor seemed a decent man, the class was right in my wheelhouse, and most of the kids in the class shared my major.

They didn't, however, share my attention span.

For the first 30 minutes or so, they checked their cell phones every few minutes like they were late for appointments, and texted. After 30 minutes, they shifted in their seats, craning their necking toward the doors. Some of them starting to put their jackets on. Class wouldn't be over for 20 minutes.

When it was over (FINALLY, for some), the doors exploded outward and I made my way out into the cold.

The awful nasty terrible soul-stealing cold.

In my next class, we played one of those awkward ice breaker "getting to know you" games. We paired up, asked questions, and later introduced one another to rest of the class. Most intros went something like this:

"This is (insert name) from (insert hometown). S/he's a[n] (insert discipline) major and likes (insert hobby)."

I introduced my partner likewise. My partner, however, introduced me in a much different way:

"This is Drew and he's from Manchester but he was in Boston once... for like... a while. And he hasn't been to school in like twelve years now and he's really nervous about being back in school after such a long time and he doesn't get any of us kids or whippersnappers or whatever. Oh and he plays... trombone?"

There was a long pause... and then...

"I don't know if he has any kids."

The TA stared at her syllabus and tried not to laugh.