wednesday, april 11, 2001
three in silence

i have developed a fairly regular routine in the last week and a half of school, and it seems at least 3 others have managed to form similar routines that put us in contact with each other without any connection at all. after my first class a friend and i have lunch together, he usually has chicken wings and i usually have a chef's salad (this is how strangely routine it has gotten ~ we even have food habits now!). around noon, he's off to class and i have over an hour to myself. first i get errands done, if i have any. campus bookstore, office of records, e.o.p.s. stuff, financial aid; whatever needs to be done get done in that time.

then i make it to the classroom where my next class will be held about an hour early. the first couple of days this classroom was completely empty. i'd go in, leave the lights off and power up the laptop and get it all charged while writing for my collabs, reading a chapter, whatever i needed to do or felt like doing. when you're with people all day, no matter where you're at the solitude is kinda nice. no kids, no injured husbands, no crowded cafeteria, no classmates, no teachers. just me and my laptop and my imagination, or my sense of responsibility, whichever happens to take priority at the time. the class starts filtering in around 20 minutes before class starts and i am ready for the company again.

last friday i found myself in the company of another student needing solitude. we talked, he did introduce himself but i am just horrible with names, and we settled into a companionable silence as we each did our own thing together all alone.

it was actually kind of nice.

we've only said hello to each other since. otherwise, we just sit in the classroom, quietly doing what we need to do. or somewhat quietly. these rooms echo and some days i feel like i am being really loud. i mean REALLY loud. but when folding a piece of paper echoes around the room i am not sure there's much that can be done to be quiet enough to NOT feel loud.

today we got a new addition.

another gentleman joined us briefly. he did not introduce himself. and the three of us sat and did our thing quietly. we didn't talk. we just did what we needed to do. after a few minutes the third guy left.

i don't think he liked being together all alone.

i enjoyed it, even with a third person joining us. but i sure hope it doesn't become habit to get someone new each week. the solitude will quickly be gone then.

but three in silence? that works.