Sunday, August 26, 2012

A summer's eulogy

Commiserations, students of the Austin area.  Tomorrow is the first day of school.

Instead of wandering towards your bed in a leisurely fashion sometime before the sun comes up and sleeping until high noon, tonight you will have to set an alarm which will force consciousness on you at a time you may have forgotten existed with an 'a.m.' next to it.  You will drag yourself out of bed and into what you hope will be the outfit that will set you onto the path of popularity this year.  It will be just the start of a terribly trying day that will end only with the certainty that you must repeat it again and again for nine more months.

This is difficult time, I know.  And I also know that recognizing the trials of others is not something younger generations are praised for.  But I feel I must attempt to impress upon you that you are not the only ones who suffer.  Perhaps the knowledge that we are joined in this struggle will give you strength as you step onto the school bus or make your own way to class.

Because while today is your first day journeying in the wee hours of the morning, this is a trek that us poor cubicle dwellers have been making day in and out all year long.  And while we don't get three months off, we do enjoy the three months when school traffic dissipates and leaves a relatively open road for the morning commute.  Tomorrow our briefcases, purses, and lunch totes will feel just a little heavier as we know that along with the 9-to-5-ers, we will be bumper-to-bumper with a whole new batch of road warriors.  My own time from driveway to desk will increase by 50%, which is depressing since I can't even knit in that time.

So Godspeed, young students.  I will attempt to console myself, as my car crawls along the road, by telling myself that it is all worth it for your education.  So please, go learn something.

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