On the Outside Looking In

My favorite times of the day--any day--are the ones when my mundane schedule is thrown out of its almighty stability. However, if there were no structured schedules, those off-days would seem to be no big deal.

Perhaps that's the draw to sick days in school. Leaving class early, walking down the halls while schoool is going on behind every door, talking to the office lady you would never have known if you were healthy and sitting in class. When I got home from school after being sick, I would love to sit and watch the cartoons that I never got to watch during class. Not that they were good. Heck, most of the time it was Nick Jr. But it wasn't about the quality--it was about being there to witness what your peers couldn't as they sit and listen to a long-drawn out lecture then pack their things and go to their lockers, stop by a friend to say hi, then continue to their next class to listen to another lecture.

The problem with loving this excitement is that it involves a mixture of sponteneity and randomness. I'm writing this because I got done with my Economics class early. Usually I get off right at 9:00 PM and head to Applebee's for trivia night. It was just randomness that led me to the school's Computer Commons. But being spontaneous is a large factor in all this, too. It's almost like being a Yes Man. If someone asks you to go to the movies on a school night, go. Miss your television show. Just tape it. Dinner with the family? Screw it. This movie will never be in the theaters again after a few weeks.

There's just something about going against the lulling flow that lures me to a sense of excitement. I love sitting in hallways or on park benches and watching poeple, I love running into friends at the grocery store then deciding to go get ice cream, I love going home sick or sleeping in and skipping class, I love having random dentist appointments, I love easedropping, I love starting up conversations with people I don't know, I love complimenting people, I love exploring, I love going to the bathroom in the middle of class, I love picking up food orders during work, I love waiting anywhere, I love taking new routes to work or school...

I love looking at my life from an outside perception.