Harlan Foster

Once Upon a Time, They Lived Happily Ever After



Posted: Monday, March 24, 2008

by
Very Good Company

The following is a conversation that occurred in the student center on a university campus. University people, students, that is, are often a strange conglomeration of personalities that tend to clash or the flipside, to blend. Those personalities who clash can oftentimes be identified by those persons who are sitting by themselves at a table for four in the student center. On the other hand, those who blend well, those who go out of their way to get along with others, will be seen sitting at a similar table, fellowshipping with one another, eating, drinking coffee, hot chocolate (for those who don't drink coffee) and either comparing notes from a common class, preparing for an exam, or just relaxing and having a break between classes. In most instances, that I recall, if there was a clash in personalities, the persons involved would simply avoid one another unless forced to acknowledge each other, such as passing in a hallway, or passing through a bathroom door in different directions. Usually, the contentious personalities would try to stay half a campus apart to avoid the possibility of an encounter. Such things are considered a downer and not good for one's day at school or for the soul.

On the other hand (left or right), those who blend well with others will generally share a warm greeting, even if it is in passing in a hallway or one going in and the other coming out of the bathroom. Such greetings tend to be quite uplifting and are good for the soul and one's day at school. As it happened, a female student took a liking to a male student and had been trying desperately to push her way into his carefully guarded space. He could always tell her intention by the wry smile that separated her lips just enough to see the tips of her beautiful white front teeth, top and bottom. He, as you might imagine, was doing his best to be nice and simultaneously keep the advancing female, for whom he had absolutely no liking whatsoever, at a safe distance. Surely, they must have had one or two classes in common. He had been successful in warding her off in every attempt she made to corner and pursue him at close range.

At long last, there was an encounter in the student center, which was adjacent to many student offices. Perhaps she was on her way to one of those offices, though I don't believe we will ever know for certain. Nonetheless, she entered the student center on a winter's midmorning, either to find some respite and comfort from the southeast Idaho snow and the biting wind that could chill one to the bone or to take care of some business at one of the nearby offices. At any rate, she espied our hero, sitting at a table, drinking something (we assume) warm and without an invitation, parked her a attractive body on the chair directly opposite him. In the next few seconds, she had his full attention.

"Lemme ask you something,"

she said, with that wry smile that separated her lips just enough to see the tips of her beautiful white front teeth, top and bottom.

"What would you like to ask?"

My question came as no surprise to her. A total ringer. The conversation was off to a wonderful, mundane and boring start.

"Tell me a little about yourself."

"How little would you like to know?" Another ringer

"What do you do? What turns you on? What makes your motor run?"

"In that order? Nothing, nothing and popcorn."

She looked at me with that wry smile that separated her lips just enough to see the tips of her beautiful white front teeth, top and bottom, and the dumbest look on her kinda pretty face. I knew I had finally found a way out of the conversation for today and probably the rest of the semester. She rose from the chair, turned and sort of ambled off in a direction that may not have been intentional. I didn't care. I was free.

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