yesterday was exhausting. i had 3 presentations over at lincoln street school, a meeting and pre-meeting with an ally. i got back to the office and was wiped, but found a particularly funny note:
rosy,
please clean the burnt popcorn smell out of the microwave.
look.
a couple days ago, just before it was quitting time, i ventured out of my office and into the red cross kitchen, bag of popcorn in hand. i cannot recall the last time i tried to make a microwave "meal" (popcorn with extra butter being a popular choice among the office-lady type...)
so, i read the instructions, which inform me:
1. REMOVE OVERWRAP. place bag, unfolded, in center of microwave oven. be sure THIS SIDE IS UP! (easy enough, right?)
2. POP! set microwave on HIGH and set overn timer for 4 minutes (the actual cooking time will be between 1-1/4 and 4 minutes). push START. listen carefully! when popping slows to 2-3 seconds between pops, turn oven off. DO NOT LEAVE MICROWAVE UNATTENDED... overcooking may result in scorching. (this is where the problems began.)
at first i was doing really well. i set the microwave to 3 minutes, figuring four minutes would be unreasonable. turns out, 3 minutes was also unreasonable. i got all the way to the part where it says "do not leave microwave unnattended." uh-oh.
what had happened was, i got an important telephone call, which lured me back to my desk, but only for a moment! ok, thirty seconds. anyhow. i suddenly saw thick smoke rolling out into the office. i ran into the kitchen to see the microwave coughing out a brown cloud of doom.
it smelled awful. the whole interior was coated with burnt artificial butter. the poor microwave was a wreck, and people began to stick their heads out of the cubicles and perimeter offices. luckily, people had begun to go home. i was so worried the smoke detector was going to go off.
but seriously... a note?
addressing more ally-related business, i had a really nice time yesterday at the lincoln avenue elementary school. there are several other americorps members there, and they were all really nice and willing to talk. apparently, it's a good program for them, but structured differently than ours.
i especially like visiting the bilingual classrooms. it seems like immigration issues in general function as a sort of microcosm of what public allies is supposed to be. the children are amazing, function actively in trying situations, often times shouldering the burden of translating for their parents; being ridiculed for their cultural differences yet preserving them while assimilating into american culture.
i feel like i'm starting to get the hang of this thing, the presentations and the red tape and the procedures. i'm learning the ins and outs, and at the same time, reflecting on my personal development. i am working hard to make the best of this experience.
a few days ago, i had a presentation at the veteran's hospital. i arrived a little early, so i sat down with a couple of the employees. we had a good time, talking about regular life things. this isn't something i'm usually interested in.
before p.a, i would have busied myself with some other activity, dismissing these women as the ordinary work-a-day sort. they couldn't possibly have anything in common with young, wonderful, artistic me.... but lately i'm realizing that everyone is the ordinary work-a-day sort. we are struggling for the same things, want to live our lives the best we can. everyone has something to offer, it's up to me to open myself up to receive it.
aww. i feel all warm inside.
No comments:
Post a Comment