Friday, August 23, 2013

Back to School

I hate this time of year.  I didn't always, of course, when I was younger and still going to school there was always that sense of anticipation and excitement of seeing and interacting with people who weren't in the summertime social circles mixed with the dread of routine and having to get up early for classes.  As I grew older and moved to grad school, September stopped being about a change in routine and more about the campus getting crowded again.  Now that I'm working in a university where the vast majority of the undergrad population is only around when classes are in their "traditional" fall and winter sessions, this time of year is all about quiet seething rage.

I am convinced that the average intelligence of this campus takes a nose-dive right around now.  By Monday there will be massive throngs of meandering "young adults" who can't seem to figure out how cross-walks and street lights work.  They will start to cross when their light turns red.  Stop in the middle of the intersection like startled deer when a car screeches to a halt so as not to hit them and run giggling in all directions and they can't decided whether to complete their crossing or return to their starting position to try again. all this will be exacerbated by a handful of moronic motorists who stop to allow the children to cross despite having the light in their favour.  It's already beginning as the first few kids are moving in, often with their entire family and a carload of detritus aiding in their settling-in process.

Timely passage through the hallways will be massively disrupted as these overly-coifed and made-up mouth-breathers will meander aimlessly, because taking their eyes off their smart phones for long enough to navigate a straight line is inconceivable. Of course there will be the occasional complete jams caused by those who can't manage to amble and read concurrently as some shocking revelatory text (OMG Brad & Clara broke up!) comes in and they suddenly come to a complete halt in order to gape more effectively.

The worst thing, however, is the meat-heads who will now crowd the weight rooms at the gym.  Yes, the campus gym will be open later into the evening, but going in there any time after about 1 or 2 pm will become an exercise in massive self-control of pacing in front of the squat racks and periodically bitching at some ass-hat who insists that a squat rack is required for their dead lifts, or anything at all they want to do with a dumbbell.

Of course, there is still that leftover sense that the beginning of September is the real start of the "new year", and I still find myself with quiet little resolutions in the back of my mind.  This year it isn't about getting to campus earlier for a better parking spot.  This year it's about become more firm and demanding that I get time in the middle of the day to go to the gym.  The pain in the ass of fighting for equipment in the evening is often enough to make me skip a workout, and I don't think that's something I should be doing anymore.  This week as the gym was closed for some pre-semester whatever, I watched my average blood glucose sit higher and become a little more twiggy than it's been in previous weeks.  I also watched my mood turn to shit, and sluggishness and fatigue taking residence.  I think maybe I can argue that people are just going to have to suck it up a little that I'm not constantly here at their convenience and that I have to watch out for myself a little for a change.

Wish me luck on that one.

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