This is a similar style of the classroom’s seating/desk contraptions, but not an exact set-up. As one can see the seat is attached to the desk and the desktop is a single surface area allowing for an invasion of personal space. Not a fan.

So the day is here that I have been dreading. You know how people say “I bet it won’t be so bad once you get there?” That is a false statement in my case. The first class was horrible. My professor “quit” so they combined two sections of classes into one. Too many students shoved into a room. Claustrophobia ensued. I sneezed and no one “blessed” me. Kids are so mean. Speaking of meanness, I have a story.

I realize when someone claims that others “persecute” or are rude to them, people automatically assume that person is exaggerating or acting paranoid, but this little tale will prove me correct.

Last semester two classes were held in the same room. In both of these classes I had the same seat. We are required to sit in the same seat all semester so that we are easier to “track” by the professors. So six times a week I sat in this particular seat. Finals roll around. My finals happen to be in this same classroom. I walk into the room on the designated test day and see a coat, backpack and materials strewn across my seat and desk area. I feel my face redden in anger and humiliation as this person had no regard for my typical seat. I cannot believe the nerve of this kid. The student is not in the seat at the moment, so as I try to find another place to situate myself I keep an eye out to see the face of the culprit.

I find another place to take my test, but it is the “bizarro” of my typical seat and I am uncomfortable and thrown off. What I mean by “bizarro” is that it is opposite of my typical seat where the lever which attached the seat to the desk is placed on the right side which required me to sit down via the left side of the seat. Also, no one sat to my left, so I had room to spread out. The seat, though, I sat in for my criminal law final required me to sit down from the right side and as it was the last seat on the left, I had minimal room to places my materials to the left and I am right-handed. During my test, I had to place my outline to the right of me at times and this threw off my mindset.* I felt disorganized and my work process became disjointed at times. I am so about ambiance and a personally comfortable work environment.

I did take note of the student who “took” my seat -the seat in which my fat ass sucked the spring out of the foam for an entire semester - and this student has been etched in my mind as a seat stealing. I have at times pictured this person in my head and felt anger at the youthful arrogance, that all too common nowadays belief of entitlement, and rudeness of not respecting a fellow student’s typical seating placement.

Now, I ask you all to put yourself in my position and consider how you would feel if someone sat in the same seat you sat in for an entire semester on that all important day of the final test. Not good, correct?

Mean girls - so true.

Later in the day, the student in front of me swung his bag so it hit my foot. He was aware of hitting my foot as he glanced upwards at me. He turned around with nary an expression of “I’m sorry” or “pardon me”. Do parents teach manners to their kids any more?

Mean boys - so true.

*Note: I found some strength and looked at some of my grades. I earned the worst grade in this class. I think I will blame the seat-stealer for the unacceptable conditions which helped contribute to the weakest grade of the group.

Recently I came across a slew of reviews praising a specific brand of an epilator. I started to read with interest as I did not even realize epilators were still in being manufactured and sold. Supposedly, the latest generation of epilators are much improved from the “epilady” from a couple of decades ago. I had tried one such device years ago but returned it after trying it out with the claim that it didn’t work. As I think back now, I am not so sure if it truly didn’t work or I didn’t know what I was doing. I think part of the problem was that I didn’t allow the hair to grow enough to give the epilday a chance to grab it and pull it out. Never one to follow directions to a tee, I believed my rules were more vital than allowing the hair to reach .xx inches and if the machine proved unable to work within my guidelines of a days worth of stubble then back to the store it went.

As soon as I saw the post with the “Epilator” in the title, my mind immediately thought of a certain person. And it happened to be a person I never even met. And while I started thinking of why I thought about this person I knew that at least two other people would probably also think of this same person if I were to present them with the word “epilady”. So I tested it out on one of the persons in question, MI (social worker formerly known as MF) and sure enough the same woman came to mind. She felt that there was also a fourth person who would associate “epilady” with this individual and after a test, he immediately named name. “Crazy mommy” shall live forever together with “Epilady” within our minds.

The mind is truly fascinating and I think this example shows the power that early (and we weren’t exactly in our formative years) associations we learn or witness can have life-long effects. Use care around the kids as that primacy effect is oh so powerful. I distinctly recall learning about the primacy effect in one of my psych classes and immediately related to this to the undeniable power and preferred status of the first born. Especially as an older person I see this in action. I can more easily recall the name and sex of someone’s first kid, but when it comes to the next or even the next, forget about it. Not nice, I know, but it’s the way it is. I am a middle, third kid, so I feel the pain.

Now back to the epilator. So after reading these reviews, I really had an urge to test out one of the newer versions. However, after checking out the prices it seemed that this would be classified as an indulgence for me and I am not really in a position to indulge. Thinking of my options, I recalled that I was recently bestowed with a wonderful Target gift card. I thought, perhaps, I should use part of it to buy myself something I would not ordinarily buy. But I still found it hard to allow myself such a splurge even with the gift card because I know there will be a time, soon, when I need to buy toilet paper and the $7 for my preferred brand and kind of tp -Cottonelle double rolls 24-pack - will hurt my funds. Finally, after my third trip to the store staring and reading the box of Braun’s Silk X-Elle Epilation Shaver thinking and weighing and considering “should I?” (I imagine the closed circuit cameras have a good 15 minutes of footage of the weird lady staring at the razors, picking up a box, putting it down, picking up a box, putting it down…), I bought it. And so far so good. Pain? I personally did not find it painful, it kind of tickles . Good purchase, I must say. Thanks for the gift card!

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I’m bigger than the “blue” me yes?