Appropriate Footwear

I biked over to the University of Nebraska’s City Campus Monday night. I’m taking a chemistry course this fall. [As a tangent I’ll say that I’m pretty excited about chemistry. What other course syllabus will explicitly tell me that “explosions are strongly discouraged as part of your coursework”?]

Anyway I was running a little late because my bike lock is a colossal pain in the neck and I scooted through the door just as lab was getting started. I ducked my head in shame, found my workstation and commenced unpacking my backpack. Lots of rumbling and rustling around in my bag later [Yes, I'm that ~noisy~ person in the back of the classroom] I finally located my calculator, notebook and safety goggles. I was carefully squaring each of them in a neat, sort of symmetrical, ensemble on the work surface when I glanced down past my notebook to my feet. Sandals. Dah! I had spaced the course safety requirement to wear closed-toe shoes.

Evidently this wasn’t my T.A.’s first time with her student showing up to the open-toed-shoe rodeo. She handed me a pair of blue nytrile gloves to slip onto my feet as socks. If you’re at all familiar with the pampered lifestyle my feet are commonly afforded you’ll appreciate the severe demotion to sweaty-blue-smurf status they received here.

I'm generally a forgetful person. My feet, however, remember everything. It's safe to say I won’t be forgetting appropriate footwear for lab again.