A tale from grad school for lj idol
It was January, and I was in grad school. Grad students are always short on funds, so I had just started a new job: tutoring writing in the undergraduate residence halls.
The day I started tutoring, we had a snow/ice storm. The sidewalks were slick and the streets, a mess. I made it to all my classes, though I slipped and slid quite a bit, and, then, waddled over to the residence hall to start tutoring.
Along the way, I slipped twice, because no one at the university thought to treat the sidewalks for the entire day. Apparently, salt was for food, and for food only.
I got to the dorm, only to discover that I was scheduled to tutor at a dorm all the way across campus. Fortunately, there was bus service. Unfortunately the streets were still a mess.
So, the bus almost skidded through the stop sign, and when it did stop, I rushed out to it. I floundered on the ice flow like a wounded walrus, almost slipping under the bus, except that I slammed shoulder-first into the side of the bus. It was painful, but better than ending up on my butt.
Anyway, I staggered onto the bus, which immediately turned a corner, throwing me onto the lap of an unsuspecting fellow passenger. I apologized profusely and sat down elsewhere.
Because the streets were still untreated and and an icy mess, the bus moved slowly (well, after taking that one corner), making me late.
I got off the bus, and waddled like a penguin, only slower, to the dorm. I asked the desk attendant where the dorm library (where I'd be tutoring) was, and he said to follow the signs in the tunnels.
After being out in the cold, I found the tunnels almost unbearably warm. I was sweating like a pig by the time I got to the library, which was so cold, I ended up putting my scarf on.
I did not understand the extremes. There was a happy medium to be had.
No one came for tutoring that day.* So, I did some homework. All that trouble for nothing.
On my way home, someone had FINALLY been out cleaning up the sidewalks. Getting home was not nearly the trial that getting to the dorm was.
My university did not handle winter storms well.
*The students in this dorm did not come for tutoring nearly as much as the students in the other dorms where I tutored. Don't know why.
The day I started tutoring, we had a snow/ice storm. The sidewalks were slick and the streets, a mess. I made it to all my classes, though I slipped and slid quite a bit, and, then, waddled over to the residence hall to start tutoring.
Along the way, I slipped twice, because no one at the university thought to treat the sidewalks for the entire day. Apparently, salt was for food, and for food only.
I got to the dorm, only to discover that I was scheduled to tutor at a dorm all the way across campus. Fortunately, there was bus service. Unfortunately the streets were still a mess.
So, the bus almost skidded through the stop sign, and when it did stop, I rushed out to it. I floundered on the ice flow like a wounded walrus, almost slipping under the bus, except that I slammed shoulder-first into the side of the bus. It was painful, but better than ending up on my butt.
Anyway, I staggered onto the bus, which immediately turned a corner, throwing me onto the lap of an unsuspecting fellow passenger. I apologized profusely and sat down elsewhere.
Because the streets were still untreated and and an icy mess, the bus moved slowly (well, after taking that one corner), making me late.
I got off the bus, and waddled like a penguin, only slower, to the dorm. I asked the desk attendant where the dorm library (where I'd be tutoring) was, and he said to follow the signs in the tunnels.
After being out in the cold, I found the tunnels almost unbearably warm. I was sweating like a pig by the time I got to the library, which was so cold, I ended up putting my scarf on.
I did not understand the extremes. There was a happy medium to be had.
No one came for tutoring that day.* So, I did some homework. All that trouble for nothing.
On my way home, someone had FINALLY been out cleaning up the sidewalks. Getting home was not nearly the trial that getting to the dorm was.
My university did not handle winter storms well.
*The students in this dorm did not come for tutoring nearly as much as the students in the other dorms where I tutored. Don't know why.