Fall Approaches

[livingdeb]

The crowded campus returns
Inconvenient hordes of people
Motorized vehicles on the sidewalk
People whizzing down the hallways
   Who aren't me
Shouting in the free speech area
   "Student radio!"
   "Stop terrorizing animals!"
Getting bothered
   "May I have your name for [the student paper]?"
   "Do you have time to save the environment?"
But there are lots of things going on, and improving weather
   Not quite ninety degrees,
   It feels good to sit in the shade
   In the stiff breeze
   Listening to poetry on the plaza.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Nice. Although all those z's in "plaza" and "whizzing" and "terrorizing" somehow blended together to make me think desperately of pizza. Mmmmm...pizza.

The first day of class, 8:20 a.m. in the library, a young guy with a book in his hand asks me if students can check books out. I tell him how. I am not at all tempted to be a smart-ass. Perhaps this is a sign of that "maturity" thing I keep hearing so much about.

(sally)

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Sorry about desperate pizza thoughts. Mmm.

I'm actually pretty good with the stupid questions. It's so nice to actually know the answers. But a guy who doesn't know if students can check books out? Sad. Unless maybe he's used to the Library of Congress?

The worst story I heard like this was of a college student who was doing poorly partly because of not yet owning the textbook. The student had been patiently waiting for the professor to hand them out. I suppose it's possible for a student to happen to get all classes where it is never explicitly mentioned that you have to buy your books and to somehow not notice that other people were buying books and that local book stores were full of textbooks, though rare.

[(Anonymous)]

That is a pretty bad story.

I have to give the guy in the library credit for having the stones to ask the question, rather than be too afraid of looking stupid.

(sally)

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Definitely.