what happen?

as was my custom, i got to the room half an hour early and mentally prepared for the class by staring blankly at the wall.

about 20 minutes later, she plopped down into the seat beside me, a seat which was normally occupied by someone else; i felt a twinge of resentment because i was a big fan of the person who normally sat next to me. but wait, you say, girls don't plop; they alight gracefully into their seats and do not burp or fart or commit any bodily function that is unbecoming. actually, i know girls who burp and fart and they can do it pretty darn well. she plopped down into the seat; she was the perennially tired-for-class type of person. for sitting beside me, you get a brief nod of acknowledgment, so that was what i gave her.

she pulled out a soup.

"ugh, the line up downstairs was so long." it was the begining of a story. i like stories; it meant that i did not have to contribute much to the conversation.

"it was weird. there were two pots of soup: barley and beef; and vegetable. the barley and beef one was almost down to nothing, but the vegetable one was almost completely full."

"and you got the vegetable one because there was more?"

"no, i got the vegetable one because i love vegetables!" i must have made a face because she followed that up with, "don't tell me, you're one of those people that don't like vegetables..."

i shrugged and made the conscious decision to make a face. "no, not really," as in, i don't like vegetables.

she shook her head and gave a sigh of exasperation.

"ugh, herman! we have nothing in common!" this was a baffling statement; i wondered how i was supposed to interpret it.

"i like potatoes?" was all i could offer while my upper mental faculties spun up their engines to decipher what she was talking about.

she did not speak to me for the rest of the class.