they're baaaaaack

I accompanied Meego to get his wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday.  As I left our neighborhood to pick him up, I was met with a mass of high school humanity traffic.  

We live near a large high school, and yep, they're back to school.  What is usually a quick left turn out of the neighborhood instead had me waiting for a slow train of cars and bikes and pedestrians for what seemed like forever.  But eventually I got a break in the action and we made it to the wisdom teeth removal in time.

So that's checked off the to-do list.  Fall semester for the university and the college where I work begins on Monday.  I think I'm looking forward to a frenzy of activity on campus rather than the slow trickle of summer session.  We're all wearing masks, but in-person classes are in order.

My job, by the way, has to do with a variety of proctored testing for professional licenses, certifications, and such.  We also accommodate college students trying to test into certain academic programs or test out of course prerequisites as well as take make-up exams.

I realized after telling a few people that I work at a "testing center", the term isn't clear - especially nowadays.  Several people assumed I performed COVID testing.  Funny/ tragic how our thoughts turn immediately to COVID for various terms.

Like last summer, when I was still at the old folks home, when tents showed up in a parking area.  Any other time, we would assume they were for a party, but we all automatically assumed they were for COVID testing.  (Actually, they were to increase the area for visiting, since visits had to be outside).

So young kids are back in school, big kids are back in town for college, and away we go.  As I was leaving Meego's house last week, I drove by another college rental.  Several dudes were sitting out front.  As I drove past, I happened to notice one of them pointing at a cardboard-and-sharpie sign.  I only made out the beginning:  "YOU HONK...", and kept on a-driving.  I heard a collective sigh from the dudes and realized the sign said "YOU HONK... WE DRINK".  

Yep, the college kids are back.  Sorry guys.  But I'm sure they managed plenty of drinking without my help.