Now it is about 10pm on a Friday evening. Some weeks ago I moved into my dorms and began attending University, with some pretty difficult classes to deal with. No doubt, life has changed drastically for the better.
My family had been growing unbearable for the past year. For so long, I hoped and prayed that a day would come that I could escape that hell. I had come of age, and the world was supposed to be my oyster. And of this world I could not ask much. Just some people who are attentive and good to be around. Now, I haven’t exactly reached this goal, but this is a start. I attended this French Club meeting the other day and it kind of sucked ass, but at least it was a social festivity. Not that social festivities with a bunch of strangers help my situation, but I did have a little talk about etymology with the nerdiest person in the room. No disrespect is intended by this, but it seems most comprehensible.
This year has doubtlessly met me with a warm embrace. As I remember it, 2016 kicked me in the ass more so than other years in recent memory. It was a period of stagnation, and so many days were spent on a single thought. 2017, despite the politics of our time, is shaping up to be the best year in recent memory. Each time when life gets me down, 2017 brings tidings of peace and good feelings. I got two roommates, and I respect them both a lot. Good and responsible people live here. Maybe there are shootings and armed robberies a mile from our vicinity, but we take the trash out.
Yesterday was a particularly good day. At its inception I felt awful. The last few weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster, mostly because I have been completing my application for studying abroad. Yesterday, I was faced with the awkward reality of course lists being confusing as hell. I fired off an email to my advisor and her office sent me back a notice of her absence for this week. Since I have until the 10th to get all the information turned in, it seemed to me that I’d be screwed. I sat through Trigonometry and felt awful about it – my mind would not wander from worry.
Once I left that class, I got on a bus that was thoroughly crowded. About the time I arrived, the driver left for some reason unknown. Some guy got on at the front at the same time as I had, tossing his bag in the corner and asking another guy not to touch it. He called him his “nigga” and things were taken in a rather bad way. I told them that we didn’t need to have any trouble. The offended guy agreed, and said there wouldn’t be any. But pretty soon, they were eyeing one another and getting in position. Then came threats of undercutting and some pushing. My mind didn’t quite process what happened next, but something clicked and I forced my arms between the two of them. I lightly held the offended guy back with both arms, then swung my left arm around and stopped the other one in his tracks as he came in to pursue him. The offended one then began walking off the bus. On his way out, I patted his shoulder and reassured him, saying it would be alright. Not to let it get to him.
Lots of people on that bus were cheering on the confrontation. Very immaturely, they mocked the guy for leaving. But that guy had more sense than any of us. People can act very disrespectful and cruel. However, we can't mess things up for ourselves with violence. Hurting other people hardly solves anything, and often opens up unique problems. This basic message is hounded in cartoons from Viva Piñata to The Teletubbies to Veggietales to Sailor Moon - as well as it is etched into every code of law and every religious text you'll ever read. But somehow I find myself teaching adults the exact same lesson.
In this case, I was the right person at the right time. Since I had a 10 minute interval between Trig and the next class, I hadn’t even taken off my reading glasses. Had someone threw an idle punch or kicked my ass then and there, it’d have been hella unfortunate because I would be paying for new glasses and shit. Immediately after getting off the bus, Chem lab began. Luckily it was like an hour long lab and I got out early. I ate lunch, which I normally don’t have time to do on a Thursday. Then, in a real twist of fate, my advisor sent me an email back. She told me I could meet her for an appointment in her office next week.
I jumped on that opportunity, and here I am now. The dream, the ideal, the spectacle of going to Europe has not ended. The Age of Pirates will never die! Nevertheless, I still had to sit through a Genetics lecture after this. I almost fell out of my seat of exhaustion. Wonderful news though: it's Friday! That means I don't have any classes, but I do have two action-packed days, deceptively filled with work and responsibilities to prepare for the next cycle. Just thinking about the whole thing makes me want to crash into slumber.
John Lockers
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