The Gassy, the Witch, and the Pickup Lines

(A.K.A. Adventures in the Big Apple)

I would like to chalk this week up to being the strangest most random week of travels yet. A few schools really surprised me with a huge number of students, and some were pretty typical with one or two students...or none.

First of all, there is nothing like meeting with that weird kid...you know the type...one on one. It wouldn't have been so bad, I mean, I've dealt with the weird kids before, but this kid topped the cake. We had just introduced ourselves when the stinkin' kid broke wind. I didn't hear it at all; it was very sneaky but very stinky! Now normally I would make a big deal about it if it was a friend, but I had to hold my breath and bite my tongue until the moment passed. I was embarrassed for him, and I may have even blushed, but we survived the moment.

Another great moment of the week. I was at a very small school that reminded me of where I went to high school, and I was sitting in the guidance counselor's outer office (no guidance secretary for this school) when a young lady walks in to talk to me. She starts out the conversation with, "You guys have some engineering stuff and your school, right?" Never a good sign. She went on to say that she had some family that attended Platteville, and she's like to start there. After all, "Michigan Tech is just a little bit better than Platteville...you know." Um...right. The guidance counselor walked through the office and mentioned that we probably had scholarship opportunities. To which she replied, "Oh yeah, I'm real poor, and you need to give me a scholarship." Nice. That's all I've got to say about that. Nice.

Chillin' in line at McDonald's at around 9:00 in the morning, waiting to order breakfast, can be an interesting start to a day I came to find out this week. I was staring at the menu blankly, already knowing what I was going to order, when I construction worker came up to me and said, "Why hello. How are you doing today?" I said politely, "Fine, thank you." To which he came back with, "No, you're supposed to say flawless...Let's try again. How are you doing today?" Wow. I didn't know stuff like that really happened. I kind of figured that that was just the sort of thing that you saw on movies and stuff.

And to complete my random week, in a moment of desperation, needing an early morning jolt, I tried a cup of coffee. Turns out, I don't mind coffee at all. Weird. Didn't see that one coming.