For some reason, this quarter, I managed to rack up some tardy service. It was really surprising that this year my school decided draw upon their resources in the form of Me. Even though I was bitter that some of my teachers secretly tallied my occasional tardiness, I must give credit to this unjust system for introducing me to one of the most enjoyable parts of my day.
At first, tardy service seemed like a burden and I was constantly plotting how I could somehow manage to serve my 5 hours without actually serving my 5 hours. When I was offered choices for how I could waste 5 hours, I was fairly unimpressed:
Cleaning microwaves? No.
Dusting shelves? Nope.
Handling school funds? I wish (just kidding, I wouldn't steal from my precious educators).
But when I noticed the opportunity to write birthday cards to alumni, I was mildly interested. What kind of tardy service was that? It seemed weird and I was immediately discouraged by my overseer because she believed that I would not have even been able to fulfill a single hour with such a petty service. But when I started doing my service, I found it quite entertaining.
The first few birthday cards took me a while because they had to be perfect but as soon as I got into the flow of it, I was cruising. It turns out, tardy service is a great opportunity to reflect upon life and even better, daydream. I mostly spent my time thinking, "Hey, this dude is named Mr. Bird. I wonder if he runs a pet shop that specializes in parrots." Or, "Hey, she has a Ph.D. Maybe if I write an extremely flattering note, she'll seek me out and offer me an internship." Or, "Hey, this guy lives in Japan. Could I get him to invite me over there for a vacation?"
And even though all of these things are improbable, it's still fun to think about the people behind the list of names, making up personae for each of them.
The moral of this story is: tardy service sucks; pick something fun to do.
When life gave Cleveland lemons, Cleveland made lemon triangles. All was well.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that Uni sent birthday tidings to alumni! I'm excited to become one now -- almost as excited as I am for retirement in the future. Growing old does have its perks, just like being a wallflower. I am so physic, oh my god.
I'm glad you had a chance to reflect upon your wrongdoings through these creative outlets. Serves you right!
It's neat that you took something negative such as tardy service and found a way to turn it into something somewhat enjoyable. Luckily for me, I've never had to do tardy service and so haven't had that opportunity. If I was given the choice, I think that I would also choose to write birthday cards to alumni. I'm sure that the point of those cards is to remind the alumni that Uni still exists and that they might want to consider returning the kind gesture of birthday wishes with a sizeable donation. I think that it would be fun to try and come up with a unique message for each person.
ReplyDeleteI think that writing cheesy (maybe sarcastic? But I probably wouldn't get away with writing a sarcastic card.) birthday cards is soooooo much better than cleaning microwaves. Those microwaves are disgusting. Nice story!
ReplyDeleteJust like Gloria said, I didn't know the school sent birthday cards to alumni. That's so interesting! But what I find even funnier is having people doing tardy service make the cards to. Imagine if we were to get birthday cards from Uni 10 years from now. How entertaining would it be to know it was a student getting rid of their tardy service! Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know they gave you an option of what you can do in tardy service; anything is better than dealing with the microwaves *shudder*. I hope I get an awesome birthday card when I graduate :3
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that birthday card writing was an option for tardy service. I imagine that this would be more fun than scrubbing petrified cheese out of the microwaves. And what a lovely opportunity to practice your penmanship. And connect with the people who walked these halls and sat in the same desks as you (symbolically, at least).
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Brooks, that was a great perspective on tardy service, something that one would normally turn away with disgust. My friend Jonny felt similarly, he actually cleaned microwaves for his tardy service and couldn't help but feel proud of his scrubbed clean microwaves.
ReplyDeleteI like that you took a positive perspective on tardy service. I have to dust library shelves, and I am dreading it. It's not difficult or strenuous, just annoying. I hope that I can get as good of an experience out of it as you did.
ReplyDeleteNaturally, I agree with most of the other people. First off, I think birthday cards is a pretty cool option for tardy service, but how does Warren G expect the microwaves to get cleaned now?! I like that you take a pretty rosy look at a rather unfortunate situation you're put in. The real question is, will you, by the end of your five hours worth of service, be so entranced with writing the cards that you'll have enough motivation to keep being tardy?
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