Notes from the Adjunct Room

I had about an hour and half to kill after my class the other night, because I had told a friend I'd wait until after he got done with his class and we'd go out for something to eat. So I went back to the adjunct room, but I was too tired to grade papers or do anything productive. I was very tired, in fact. So I thought, I'll put my head on one of the desks and take a nap. But all those flourescent lights were a deterrent. (The "adjunct room" is a big room, about the size of a classroom, with several desks scattered around, file cabinets, etc. A lot of us share it. I like the community we have. But the flourescent lights are a little much.)

So, there was no one else around and I decided to turn on the one little desk lamp that is not a flourescent light and turn out all the overhead lights. Cool! It was kind of spooky but very soothing. (Oh, I should add that this room has no windows.) I left the door open so I wouldn't spook myself out too much. In walks one of my colleagues, a warm and lovely woman that I will call M. Of course she didn't see me in the mostly dark room. I said, "hello," and she almost jumped out of her skin. But then we turned on the lights and she forgave me for scaring her. I explained how tired I was and that I was thinking of taking a nap.

I said, "I thought I slept last night but now I feel like maybe I didn't."

M. said, "Maybe you were dreaming that you were sleeping."

That seemed about right.