communication breakdown

Good Days and Bad Days

Well, another birthday has come and gone. Sadly, it was nothing special. I think my actual day of birth is doomed for mediocrity anyways. When I was growing up, it sucked because it was during Summer break so nobody was around (except my closest friends) to celebrate with. Nowadays, I don't really have close friends up here in Minnesota (yet) that I'd go out and celebrate with anyways. I guess the birthdays during college were good - I mean, good birthdays are all about enjoying the company of your friends, and I had no shortage of friends around in college. It was days like yesterday that make me miss them most, and make me resent moving off into oblivion. Oh well - onto more cheerful topics...

I found out last week that I'm going to be part of the Medtronic team that goes to the GT Career Fair! There are about 9 or 10 of us on the overall GT team, and only 4-5 made the Career Fair list, so I'm really fortunate. I have no idea if I'll have time to break away and see some of my friends, but at the very least, it will be nice to be on campus amidst the career frenzy. I think I can be an asset to the company there because I feel I still identify well with graduating seniors, so I'm really looking forward to that trip.

Here's an interesting story about last Thursday night. I'm driving home and one of my friends calls me, and told me that he just got his first speeding ticket. He was pretty bummed about it (though it was only a 10-over violation), so I tried to cheer him up. Anyways, after hanging up with him, not 10 minutes had past by, when I got pulled over myself. I was going at least 20 over on a state highway. The officer didn't even bother trying to be polite or make stupid chit-chat (like some of those morons do) - he was all business. He asks for license/insurance and goes back to his car. He's there about 5 minutes, processing my info. Meanwhile, I'm at peace about the whole thing. I used to get so worked up about tickets (I've probably had about 7), I would get really anxious and tense inside. This time, I was extremely calm. There were several reasons for this:

1. I hadn't had a ticket in two years. I usually get about one a year. For awhile now I've been thinking I was way overdue, so I wasn't in the least surprised when I saw the familiar sight of the red and blue lights. It was just the cycle repeating itself.

2. The monetary effect of tickets no longer bothers me. Frankly, I can afford them.

3. Usually I'm all concerned with trying to be polite, explaining my situation, hoping I can get out of the ticket. But this time, I just accepted it, so I was more calm. I didn't bother trying to suck up to him, or make an excuse (not that he even gave me a chance) - I just sat there, waiting for him to come back so I could get outta there.

So I'm sitting there bored when he finally comes back. I'm expecting the familiar clipboard with the ticket, needing my signature. Instead, he just hands me my license (practically shoves it in my face) and says "I'm gonna warn you to drive safe". I barely heard him, because he kinda said it as he was walking briskly away from my car. Next thing I know, he throws his lights and siren on, and goes flying off. Clearly, some kind of major emergency came up, and he didn't have time to waste on a small-timer like myself. Isn't life ironic? The first time I've not bothered trying to get out of the ticket... and it's the only time I ever have.

In other news - one of my fraternity brothers got married last week here in the Twin Cities and I'm really glad I got to go. His bride is from here but he's from Florida, so his side of the aisle was near empty. Plus, I was the only fraternity brother there (except for his groomsman), so I'm glad I could represent the guys for him. Just another example of how fraternal ties persist beyond the college years...