little things

the baron has been feeling rather down on humanity lately, but something happened recently to lift her spirits. it's a little bit of a story, but bear with her.

thursday of last week, the baron was wrapping things up at her desk and almost ready to go when a student came through the door and said, 'do you have a ruler i can borrow? we're doing a group project in class and we need a ruler.' the student, filipe, looked as young men in the 18-22 age group often do: pants too low, t-shirt with some crafty phrase emblazoned across the chest, thick silver chain hanging against his impossibly thin chest, and lots and lots of gel in his hair. the baron wanted to say no, but filipe seemed nice enough, so instead she said, 'tell me your name and the instructor's name, and tell me when i can expect my ruler back.' she tried to smile as she interrogated him, to seem friendly, even as she collected this informational insurance. filipe told her his name, the instructor's name, promised to bring the ruler back friday, and spirited it away with a hasty 'thank you' over his shoulder.

the baron finished up at her desk, went home to the husband and four dogs, cooked a hurried dinner and forgot all about the ruler. friday came and went, and the ruler didn't reappear. when the baron finally remembered spiky-haired filipe and the ruler of no-return, it was sunday afternoon: it was a fleeting thought, and (being to lazy to track down filipe, and having forgotten the instructor's name anyway) she supposed the ruler was lost to her. then she got back to the laundry.

so. can you tell where this story is going? this afternoon, around lunchtime, filipe returned to the baron's desk, bearing the ruler, and said, 'i have something to give you. i'm sorry i couldn't get it to you friday. i didn't come to campus that day.' the baron, her delight poorly concealed behind a wide, wide grin, said, 'hey! thanks!' and wished 'good afternoon' to his retreating back.

the baron would never have guessed that her spirits could rise and fall with the impulses of an undergraduate student (indeed, looking at filipe's shoulders, one wouldn't believe them capable of carrying anything so heavy as the baron's faith in humanity). coming off this high, though, the baron is kind of feeling like she should get some perspective: wasn't it only ever a ruler? wasn't it?