Two packs a day

I’m at a bar. In the library. The sweater I grabbed and shoved in my backpack to wear to work was apparently last worn in a bar. I want to sneeze. I want to remove the sweater. I do not relish bars at libraries. They just don’t mix.

Then again, the students I get who come in on weekends to ask research questions sometimes reek of booze. Like, “I’m drunk now and writing a research paper,” not like, “I got tore-up last night.”

Students always surprise me. Not stun or amaze me anymore. But definitely surprise.