ID Realizations and the 3 Cs

Now, as I say this, you might think, girl, this is common sense. Well, maybe so.

I have a distinct memory of one of my coworkers at my job in sophomore year showing me that we could scan our IDs without taking them out, nestled away behind tens of other cards in a wallet.

I was stunned. That was the day I became a woman, I think.

The realization slipped my mind, irrelevant in my daily life for years afterward. I thought back on it once in a while, but it never came into use.

Finally, I can use this nugget of information for my own good.

Unfortunately, I can’t seem to wow those around me, gifting them the life-changing new outlook that was given to me. In my years of ID slumber, everyone else seemed to have caught on for themselves.

Oh well. I’m good for other things, I suppose.

Given the ample time it has had to settle, I have accepted all this ID business as a fact. This is how it works, and I have come to terms with it.

However, I do still have lingering questions. How do the other IDs in wallets not interfere with the magnetic bars it’s scanning? I’m not quite sure. I tried to look it up, but all the results were about whether or not fake IDs would scan, and I didn’t feel like narrowing down the search.

I have one more design/technology thing to bring up.

Before you say I’ve exhausted this topic, I probably have. Even so, this needs to be said. Whoever created the ACT mouthwash bottle is a genius. Wow. The pristine product design leaves me speechless. I marvel at it every night. (Every night is a stretch. I marvel at it whenever I use mouthwash).

Speaking of, what's your go-to flavor? I used to be a cinnamon girl because the mint was too spicy (hey - this was a while ago). Since, I've matured, and I go for the green one. Pretty crazy stuff, huh?

What else is happening on the Northern Front? (is that capitalized? I doubt it).

The Canadians take on our culture, and we take on theirs.

Yesterday was a day of self-reflection and mixed feelings as I came to terms with the fact that I prefer Smarties to M&Ms. Now, I’m not talking about the chalky Smarties in mini hockey puck form, but the M&M knockoffs.

I don’t mean to scare my American family and friends, but it’s the truth. I love a good shell, and Smarties gives that to you. If I’m eating them straight, there’s only one way to go.

Don’t worry, though; M&Ms are still top-tier. And, when bringing popcorn into the mix, it’s no contest. Especially mini M&Ms, there is just a melt factor like no other.

As for the second half, I’ve been dealing with international linguistic barriers. (Canadians saying brick) (and cyph). Upon hearing it, I was overwhelmed with a variety of emotions. The initial wave of shock that overcame me left me unsure what to think.

As for what else I’ve been up to, the 3 Cs.

1. Calculus

2. Crosswords

3. Checking my Email

I’m in Calc 2 winter 2023, and I haven’t done very much calc since last May, so I started to get stressed about having forgotten pretty much everything.

My solution to this? Khan Academy. I’ve been having a blast. Out of the 8 units available, I’ve only done 3 so far, so all it's been is easy derivatives, limits, and integrals.

It has given my ego an irrationally large boost. There’s nothing like doing light math problems.

As for crosswords, I’ve been trying to complete all of my recent puzzles, which include Sunday ones I accidentally pressed on. I do the puzzles to fall asleep, so I’m already not in my best headspace. As a Monday girl, Tuesday puzzles are already a bit of a stretch, so Sunday is pushing it.

Thankfully, I can cheat. The auto-check feature has never come more in handy.

And - I’ve learned a vast amount of fun facts. Like: Akron, Ohio is the rubber capital. (Not even the rubber capital of the US, but of the world. Wild). It’s a bit of a slap in the face to the people from Akron, being told the most interesting thing about their city is that they manufacture more rubber than most other people.

To tie it off, I’d like to address the problem of my aggressive email checking. As someone in college (sorry to my Canadian friends, university), I am not getting very many emails worth getting excited about. In fact, I can’t remember the last time someone wrote me an email unprompted.

This aside, for some reason, I still feel the urge to check it every forty-five minutes.

Often, I’m met with an empty inbox. On exciting days, VP Internal has emailed me about god knows what, or Youtube has updated their privacy agreement.

I even caught myself checking it at 2:17 AM last night (after looking around 1). I’m not sure who I thought would be contacting me by email past 9 pm, but I guess I must have thought there was a possibility.

I would blame it on deleting Instagram, but this problem had stuck around since middle school when I first got a phone with a mail app. It’s not one I see going away, so for my own sake, I can only hope that I start to receive more interesting results.

You know, back when I signed up for the Student Search Service and was bombarded with hundreds of emails every day from colleges that I wasn’t even considering, I was bitter and ungrateful. Oh, how I miss those days. My inbox was always full. No matter the day, no matter the hour, I had unread emails waiting for me patiently.

Overwhelmed with naivety, I slowly but surely unsubscribed myself from each mailing list, and before I could blink, my socialite email days were gone.

Maybe I need to sign myself up for a few spam pages.

-Violet

PS. "Sundaes on Saturdays" (I know) has fulfilled my lifelong dream of Papa's Freezeria in real life. Wow. Just wow.