Alas! My Domain Vanishes ...
And so today the students are back. Thousands of late teenage to early 20's kids from all nations roaming from building to building. Some look confused, some scared, others confident. Some seem to have little common sense, going about in shirt sleeves and sometimes short sleeves. Admittedly the day is warmer, finally crawling above freezing. Still, why push your luck and risk getting sick? Maybe it is a fraternal right of passage or a showing off like some of the male birds you see in spring.
I have enjoyed seeing hardly anyone around for almost a month. Today I felt ... crowded.
The student center cafeteria was open during the break, but they didn't turn on the monitors. Now they're switched back on with "music" videos of angry white boys screaming, angry black boys chanting, sassy black and white girls prancing and strutting. I ate amongst a din so loud I couldn't wait to escape into the cold. Today it was ... noisy.
I think all the noise psychologically must help the students feel less lonely. Outside you are alone with yourself again. I remember one of my daughters telling me when she was younger she didn't like being alone with herself - it forced her to contemplate. Fortunately she matured and grew out of it. One needs to learn to like oneself.
So, today my lunch habits will shift a bit - one or two less days a week at the Student Center cafeteria. Fortunately, if the weather goes as most North Georgia winter days, it will get warmer again. I will then frequent my favorite picnic table that is sunny in the winter and shady in the summer. And I'll have my solitude .........
I have enjoyed seeing hardly anyone around for almost a month. Today I felt ... crowded.
The student center cafeteria was open during the break, but they didn't turn on the monitors. Now they're switched back on with "music" videos of angry white boys screaming, angry black boys chanting, sassy black and white girls prancing and strutting. I ate amongst a din so loud I couldn't wait to escape into the cold. Today it was ... noisy.
I think all the noise psychologically must help the students feel less lonely. Outside you are alone with yourself again. I remember one of my daughters telling me when she was younger she didn't like being alone with herself - it forced her to contemplate. Fortunately she matured and grew out of it. One needs to learn to like oneself.
So, today my lunch habits will shift a bit - one or two less days a week at the Student Center cafeteria. Fortunately, if the weather goes as most North Georgia winter days, it will get warmer again. I will then frequent my favorite picnic table that is sunny in the winter and shady in the summer. And I'll have my solitude .........