A Story from Lis

I stepped across the lobby of the Hopkins Fine Arts Center on the night of Feb. 28 and stood in front of the Information Desk. The youngish (mid-20's) man behind the desk reluctantly interrupted his phone conversation.

"Yes?"

"I'm here for the writing class with The Loft."

He was impatiently confused. "A reading class?"

"Writing."

He was still confused. "Here?" He looked at his computer monitor. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure it's here."

"Are you sure it's not the Ellison Center?" [not sure if that's the name he said, but that's what I heard]

"Yeah."

I opened my padfolio and pulled out the course description and location I'd printed out earlier. "L-27 2, maybe? Is that a classroom?"

He was still puzzled. I handed him the sheet of paper.The course I am taking is on "Capturing Memory." It's about getting details to stay in your mind.

Here's a detail: It starts on March 14.

I don't even want to try to figure out how I made this mix-up. I took the paper back from the young gentleman, who was almost managing to keep a courteous tone (he's probably an actor), although his face said, "This may, indeed, be the dumbest person I've ever met."

"Well," I said, tucking the sheet back in the padfolio pocket, "I'll be back in two weeks then. Maybe I'll see you, if you're here."

"Oh, I'll be here," he said.

Darnit