November Rain

I'm pretty sure that if you're reading this, you know that I'm an RN. If you didn't know that, well, I'm an RN. I also live in southwest Ohio. Some years in Ohio, come mid-November, we've experienced plenty of snow storms... And other years, such as this one, we've been stuck in cold rain. I dunnah if ya feel me on this one or not, but I hate few things more than a ring of cold, slowly-creeping-up-my-leg, dirty water around my pant legs. What makes this worse, as a nurse, I wear clogs to work... Yes, I said it. I wear clogs... Backless, rubber shoes. But I PROMISE they're not Crocs or "Mocks" nor do they have holes in the tops. I'm not gonna say they are the prettiest accessory in my arsenal, but they're in my life because they're easy... like most of my friends (bah-duh-dom!) What makes them suck this time of year is that they allow said dirty, cold water to get on my pant legs and... *gasp*... all up in my socks! Pshh! As if going to work this morning for another stellar shift wasn't bad enough, I now had to deal with my scrubs AND socks slopping around my legs, makin' me look a fool. Whatevs... Life goes on... wait, I work at Hospice... but that's another blog (that I'll hopefully never get into detail about).

So, here I am, driving to work with sopping pants and cold toes when I drive through The University of Dayton's campus. Let me paint this picture for you: It's 0730, roughly 40 degrees (Fahrenheit), and pouring down huge pellets of wet misery...you'll never guess what I saw. There was a whole slew of students WALKING to what I can only assume was class... in the rain! As I sat at a red light, or what I thought was red which must have secretly turned to green, swiftly brought to my attention by the GFS delivery truck behind me, I found myself baffled by these students.

Once upon a time, I was, myself, a college student. First of all, I can assure you that after my first quarter of school, I scheduled NO classes prior to 10am. Uh, hello? Alarm? No.Thank.You. Naturally, I assume these are all freshmen... hah, losers. And secondly, why were they going to class in the rain?! And that was what I thought about the rest of my drive to work.

Were classes still held when it rained? Was I the only college student that didn't venture out if there was >40% chance of precipitation (of any kind)? And most importantly, why isn't that an option in the professional world? Remember college when you didn't HAVE to go to class? When your "bosses" were your professors who couldn't make you do anything because "I'm paying you!"? When you could make your own schedule and skipping out half-way through the class wasn't unacceptable? Or, my favorite (sorry, ma!) when St.Patrick's Day was the most popular holiday and showing up to class with an early-afternoon buzz was the norm?

And there's my answer to my "most important" question; Could you imagine if we all lived like the college student myself and most of my college pals were... set in our professional capacities? Hungover, mal-nourished, disheveled, poorly hygienic at times... Oh, that paints a beautiful picture. I guess what I'm saying is that my drive to work this morning, miserable as it seemed, made me realize that we need to grow up, to be a little mature and accept life and the responsibilities it brings... some just choose to do it earlier than others... maybe by scheduling (willingly) college courses (and most importantly, attending them) before breakfast is over in the Park's Tower dining room. But, watch out college kiddos, life'll creep up on ya... Sleep in while you can... Hit snooze (six times)... Day drink until you... well, until it's night!... Eat Fruit Loops and Taco Bell until your stomach can't take it anymore... Ya know, nothing lasts forever... Even cold November rain.