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Thursday, October 29, 2009

the internal struggles of squirrels

Sometimes, I am fully aware that I appear to be insane.

A few days ago, I was on my way to lunch after Spanish class. While I was walking, I realized it was colder than I had thought that morning, and I made a mental note to grab a coat after lunch. I was within sight of the cafeteria, making confident strides towards food, when I thought, “I’ll just get my coat now. It’ll be faster.” I pivoted and headed for my dorm. But I was starving! I wanted food ASAP. I turned around again and took a few steps towards the cafeteria, but just a few… my logic told me again to just save time and get my coat first, and so I turned abruptly towards my dorm. Repeat this spastic cycle a few more times...and it’s not like one or two people witnessed this obvious display of insanity. Nope, it was passing time; the sidewalks were flooded with students watching me march up and down my own invisible balance beam. Squirrels are supposed to struggle with issues like this, not people. You’d think the human capacity for decision-making would have gotten me through this one…

Yesterday, too, my brain kinda just quit on me. And also, I’m pretty sure every MSUFCU employee had me on their red-alert bank-robber radar. On our way to Meijer, Mallory dropped me off curbside so I could do some quick banking. To avoid paying for parking, she was just going to circle around the block-- but I was in line longer than expected, and I saw her drive past twice while I waited. After finally completing my transaction, I stepped back out to Grand River. I watched cars pass for about five minutes before deciding to check the back parking lot. (Walk-through #1.) It was empty, and Mallory’s blue station wagon was nowhere to be seen. (Walk-through #2.) Again, I watched afternoon traffic build up on Grand River, but didn’t see Mallory. I went to double-check the parking lot. (Walk-through #3.) No. Dumb idea. (Walk-through #4.) Cars pass. More cars. More. No Mallory. Maybe she parked in the alleyways? (Walk-through #5.) No Mallory. I turn around to head through again JUST in time to see her blue station wagon round the corner towards Grand River. Walk-through #6 turned into more of a sprint-through (I swear, nervous-looking bank teller, I’m not about to rob you!) and I made it through the doors to see Mallory flying past me. Luckily, the stop light turned red, and so I hightailed it up a block and jumped into the car just in time. After some really unnecessary craziness: mission accomplished!

As mortifying as these things felt while they were happening, I’ll admit, I love having a good story to tell at the end of the day. My roommate even humored me by laughing at my reenactment of the hunger vs. coat dilemma. The best ones are totally those that come at your expense, too. A regular dose of embarrassment betters the world around you...and either serves to humble you or feed your vanity, I haven't decided. :)

1 comment:

  1. We only have two options in regards to our life; laugh or cry... I like to choose the former

    ReplyDelete