2010-09-07

Hello, September

It's September in Boston, and that means the Return of the Students. This is not an insignificant event. The area is home to something like 60 colleges and universities which means about 250,000 more people between September and May. It also means that if you travel on the B Line trolley, your morning and evening commutes are nothing short of hellacious. It means clogged streets in the first week or so of September, as minivans and moving trucks disgorge agitated young adults and all of their personal effects onto the sidewalks. It means long lines at urban grocery and hardware stores.

Some people find this very exciting, and gush about the booster shot of youthful energy and enthusiasm that our city receives every September. These people tend to be the ones that aren't reliant upon public transportation and/or don't have to navigate around throngs of confused frosh and their parents on major thoroughfares. My place of employment is in the heart of this frenzy. Off the top of my head, I can name at least a dozen large universities and colleges within walking distance of my office. The nearby Starbucks teems with ponytailed girls in sweatpants and flip-flops mumbling orders for coffee drinks laced with monstrous additional espresso shots. It's a whole bunch of no fun.

Of course, I say all of this because I am bitter. It's been several years since anyone asked me if I wanted to apply my lunch purchase against a Husky/Terrier/Chihuahua card. I am not asked by the chipper polo-shirt wearing Bank of America employees if I wish to open a new account and receive a frisbee. I am addressed as "ma'am" by these slovenly children in line with me at Starbucks.

I am turning 40 next week.

I found myself in the Northeastern University bookstore last Friday. Incoming students and their parents roamed the aisles with armfuls of Northeastern swag and those last-minute dorm purchases. And I was hit with an overwhelming sense of wistfulness. I was just in there to buy a granola bar. They were in there because they were starting brand new lives, and thus needed brand new comforters, brand new wall decorations, and a shit ton of ramen noodles. Come Tuesday morning, they'd be heading off to their first classes with shiny new notebooks, and I'd be going to the same office I've been going to for most of my "adult" life.

I won't lie - it made me a little depressed.

But then I realized that I actually was in the middle of a "fresh start" of sorts with the move. In point of fact, I DID buy a new comforter. I'm also buying a new kitchen table. Of course, I'm the one buying this stuff. My parents haven't accompanied me on any of these excursions, and I won't be getting a "care package" of candy and cereal anytime soon, unless I buy it for myself. Hell, maybe I'll do that, and while I'm at it, I'll go to the Emerson College bookstore and get me a new hoodie.

lisamcc at 12:00 p.m.

2 comments so far
Marla
2010-09-07 17:05:46
Oh how this made me think of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut6YtMXjaZY (I Wish I Could Go Back to College from Avenue Q).
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Katie
2010-09-09 16:20:14
If you email me your new address, I will send you a housewarming care package of candy and cereal. Unrelated: NEC has a Penguin Card now.
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