Barnes and Noble and Body Shops

It’s an odd thing, being an unemployed college graduate and living in a college town. It’s an even odder thing to live in said college town during a break between semesters. That aforementioned, quaint, small southern town that I fell in love with for nine semesters (not counting a couple of summer classes) has had its population cut in half, more or less, and I’m left without anything resembling a structured schedule to order my day.

Instead of that structure, I’ve been left with a lot of free time.

Time to read, time to write, time to dig through boxes in the bottom of my closet and go through old notes, time to clean my kitchen and my office and the rest of my apartment, time to rent movies from Redbox, time to grab a beer with a good friend.

But also time to ponder. Time to reflect. Time to wonder about what’s next.

There’s been a lot of introspection as I’ve milled around my apartment. I’ve been left with some ponderings over the past couple of days. The following is a list, in no particular order, of things that have crossed my mind during this frigid break in which I’ve been left waiting:

1. I’ve never been to Commodore Bob’s. Is it any good?
2. OH I CANNOT AFFORD THAT MENU OKAY WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO EAT THAT I HAVEN’T BEEN TO?
3. When is my car going to be fixed?
4. Should I try to clean my kitchen for the 17th time this week and give up again?
5. Oh hey look Applebees are they any good?
6. Which coffee shop should I go to today to read a couple chapters from the book I got for Christmas?
7. Is my car getting a new bumper or are they fixing the old one?
8. Am I obligated to buy coffee from the coffee shop even though I hate coffee or would apple juice work?
9. Will my car’s theoretical new bumper be shinier than the old bumper, thus causing me to feel guilt over the fact that I have not washed my car recently leading to me getting hypothermia by trying to wash my car when it’s 27 degrees outside?
10. Well, my office space and desk are clean, let me move old class notes from boxes in my closet over there so I can clean out my closet
11. If I go to the campus Barnes and Noble to read, am I obligated to get anything to drink?
12. Wait… Now my desk is cluttered. Let me move those boxes to the floor so I can organize my desk.
13. Which movies should I rent from redbox to try to kill time tonight?

And so, on this Thursday, not a Sunday or in my Subaru, I’m at the Mississippi State University Barnes and Noble location, attempting to simultaneously kill time and boredom, waiting to hear back about a job that I’m hopeful for.