Field Trip Highlights Part II

(Not much time tonight, so here is a short part II of III)

Friday, February 9, 9:00 a.m.: Those of us who awoke on time ate from the continental breakfast at the hotel. No great shakes, but it did the job for me. Not so for one of the girls who sat with me. She attempted to make her own "waffle in a cup" and failed miserably, then gave up, then got back up and tried again, then brought her perfectly good waffle to the table, dipped it in syrup for one measly bite, and declared that she needed McDonald's ASAP. Is that something anyone should ever need ASAP?

Also, I was stopped by a friendly woman who wanted to know if we were real North Carolinians. Turns out she was from Vermont, and loved listening to our dialects as we were breakfasting. "One of them just said 'hisself', and I thought it was so cute," she enthusiastically told me. I agree with her, but would never tell the kids that, being an English teacher and all. And don't let them try that "hisself" or "theirselves" stuff out in a paper just because the nice Yankee woman liked it.

11:30: We are eating at the mall, the glorious mall. There was almost a revolt over this mall as we left the hotel. The morning manager told me we did not want to get involved in the traffic at South Park mall, the finest such establishment in nearby Charlotte, if we wanted to make the play on time. So I told the kids we were going to the big mall that was a little closer by, even if it wasn't as chic. Wailing and gnashing ensued for a few moments, but they soon accustomed themselves to the change. "As long as they have two of my three favorite stores [Hollister, American Eagle, and something else], I'll be o.k.," earnestly announced one of the freshmen. Yes, wars, pestilence, poverty, cruddy hotel coffee -these things we can survive. But imagine the horror if they didn't have two of those three stores...

(Tomorrow, I promise, I will blog on the actual play, which was our reason for going, after all)