New semester, old me

2025 - Tea and Chivalry 

Salutations Friend, 

I've officially stumbled out of bed and into the spring semester (more like out of the toasty warm frying pan and into the forging fires of academia). If I've learned anything from my time in university its that I can't read a calendar, or even better, being an English major makes me wonder if I'm even capable of reading at all. Try spending some time with Gertrude Stein (self-proclaimed genius) and tell me you end up feeling any differently. 

Already, I've had plenty of awkward encounters. My first day back, I was eating lunch, trying to pace myself since I have a habit of inhaling my food (five siblings and rationed portions will do that to a person), when the older lady sitting next to me complimented my hair. 

Now, I used to have a very tough time figuring out how to respond to compliments from strangers, and after a few years of stumbling through conversations, I finally landed on the short and sweet method, which goes something like;

Thank you

*smile*

And then usually that's it, and the other person disingages and we both go our merry ways. 

(You see, I am but a wee, formerly homeschooled, gangly, big-eared, and crooked-toothed mess. I might not look it from the outside anymore, but a very awkward and unsure girl still resides in my subconscious, and her adult armour consists of smiling and being the perfect mixture of polite but withdrawn.)

Usually, grown folks eat this performance up, but this woman went off script. She wanted something more than a *smile* and a thank you, and so she sat next to me, waiting with extended eye contact while my brain buffered ouroboros style (can thoughts canabolize themselves?). Then she smiled and said "god bless", and I said "you too", or something stupid like that, trying to figure out what she expected from me and how to provide it. We waited a few more moments in stilted silence before she gave up on me, stood up, and left me to my green beans (god bless green beans). 

Tell me, friend, should I move to Scandinavia to escape the small talk? But I think I like it too much when the lady in the parking lot sticks her head out of her car window and yells that she likes my skirt. 

Bless your heart (and mine too),

Mary W.