The Straw that Breaks the Camels Back

My community college experience has become a lot like that time I hit myself in the face with a crowbar during a particularly rigorous summerstock change-over. For you muggles who are not theatrically inclined, change-over is when you take the set and lights from one show, then put up the set and lights for another, all within 48-72 hours. There were three days of waking up at 8 am and working until 3 am the next morning. I was frustrated with the safety conditions, the lack of breaks, the lack of food, and the fact that instead of watching fireworks on July 4th, I was using a pneumatic stapler to affix a patriotic table cloth to a folding table in the dark. In the privacy of our dorm rooms, I railed against these conditions. I bemoaned the disorganization of the process, while making emphatic gestures with my hands and occasionally changing my MySpace status to something vaguely emo. Which is a very old-fashioned phrase.I might have well just said, "And on Friday nights, we'd all go down to blockbuster video and rent the Simpsons video game for our Super Nintendo"

Anyway, on the last day of change over, two other girls and I were assigned to rip up parts of the old set with crowbars and hammers. I was exhausted and bitter, and now I was spending eight hours ripping pieces of wood apart for recycling. All I'd eaten that day was handfuls of peanut M&Ms I stole from a giant bag in the shop. At one point in my delirium, as I was prying apart what used to be the rocky mountain in Pirate's of Penzance, I made a stupid mistake and the crowbar slipped and flew back into my face.
The girls looked up and shouted, "Oh my god, are you ok?" But I had nothing left. No more complaints. No more swear words. Nothing but submission. "I'm gonna take a five. And then I'm going to come back and finish this," was all I could muster. For the rest of the process, I was completely compliant. "You want me to do what? Sure. Sure. Just don't hurt my face anymore."

And that my friends, is what community college is like. You will rant, and you will rail. You will sign petitions, and you will raise your voice in a public institution of education. You will threaten to sue, and write letters of complaints. And then at some point, something will happen. You will get hit with the crowbar. And you've got nothing left. Nothing but a few tears in front of the admissions office and the prayer that they won't hurt your face anymore.

Simplicity :(
Energy :(
Mindfulness :/
Passion :)
Healthy :(
Big Picture :)
Affirmations :(

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people."~Randy Pausch

Original Pic http://seejanenurse.wordpress.com/2007/10/