Causing panic

As mentioned, I’m something of a slacker when it comes to my homework.  Take last night for instance.  As part of my grade for my Constitutional Interpretation in Congress class (taught by a federal circuit court judge widely rumored to be on the short list for the supreme court, but tragically skipped over twice (but he’s not bitter)), I’m required to write 2, 5 to 10 page papers expounding on a section from our textbooks.  The papers have to be electronically submitted by 6:00 am the morning before the class in which we are supposed to discuss them.  I’ve know about this paper requirement since  the beginning of the school year.  I’ve had my topic selected for almost as long.  I had an entire week free from classes in which to write my paper, and so naturally I was at the law library at 7:00 pm last night thinking I should probably start on that paper…  

Many hours later…  I’m not done yet but the library closes down at 11:00 pm so I decided to pack up my belongings and head home.  I don’t normally drive home since I live on the TRAX line but it was cold and I was in a foul mood so I decided my convenience was worth the money I’d spend in gas.  I live in downtown Salt Lake in a high-rise condominium.  Parking facilities are underneath the building.  At any rate, I get into my parking garage and make it to the elevator room where a middle aged Asian woman was waiting for the elevator to arrive.  I recognize her as my neighbor from across the hall on my floor.  So I said a quiet hello and we proceeded to wait in silence for the elevator.  It arrived, we enter, she presses the button and we wait.  The elevator arrives on our floor; we get off and turn down the hallway to the right.  I was trying to be respectful so I gave her a head start and I noticed as she was walking, she kept looking over her shoulder at me.  I thought she was just being rude and kept walking.  Then as we got to the point where she should have turned left to go into her house, she instead makes a right turn and starts fiddling with the lock on mine!  I quickly caught up to her and was about to demand that she explain her actions.  She shot me a panicked look and that’s when I caught a glimpse of the unit number.  It was 506.  I live in 606.  I was on the wrong floor.  This middle aged Asian was not my neighbor.  She turned out to be my neighbor’s cousin (which explains the resemblance) from the floor below.  So here I was, chasing this poor woman down, scaring the heck out of her when all she wanted to do was go home.  When I realized my mistake I stood there for a moment and said, lamely, “Oh.  I guess I don’t live here, do I?”  Then I chuckled softly…  She was absolutely silent.  I took this as my cue to go on and explain my actions as best I could.  “I got off on the wrong floor… hahaha...”  At that point, she realized I wasn’t a desperate criminal, just a confused student and she smiled and forgave my mistake…  Then I went home.  Good times.  I’m just glad she didn’t have any pepper spray. Ouch!

Wake up! There's misfortune to be had.

So I’ve had this blog for a few days now.  At least once each day, I’ve gotten to this point and stopped, unable to tackle the white space demon and get an entry started.  All that’s behind me now because I’m able to write about my own previous inability to write.  Funny how things work out.

I’m not really sure what tales will eventually grace these pages, but judging from the experiences of my first 24 years of life, they’re likely to be painful (for me), will probably result in a broken limb or two before I’m done, and hopefully provide a chortle from time to time.

To give you a tiny and carefully reconstructed version of my life thus far…  I am a third year law student at the University of Utah (BCS Busters!), poised on the treacherous edge of adulthood.  I was born and raised in a small college town in northern Utah.  Since graduating from said college, I packed up my bags, committed myself to three years of havoc and mayhem and escaped to the sprawling metropolis of Salt Lake City.  We are currently on Fall Break—a time when the smart and dedicated law students use their freedom from classes to get caught up in their outlining and reading and when I hang black sheets in my window so the noontime sun doesn’t wake me.  So needless to say, I’m not exactly editor in chief of law review.  In high school and college, I always wondered who the people were at the bottom of the class.  In law school, I’m discovering that it’s me.  And I’m surprisingly okay with that.  While class standing and the invariable tie to future employment potential should be enough to cause consternation in someone that is shelling out more money for his education than his parents paid for their first house… I’d still rather hang some sheets and catch a few extra hours of sleep.  

Speaking of sleep, it’s rapidly approaching 2:00 am so I’ll sign off for tonight, but expect to hear from me again in the near future.