<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a bit of a scare earlier this month. One of my college students came down sick, and during times like these, you take that seriously. He self-quarantined himself for a little over a week before eventually getting a coronavirus test. Thankfully, it came back negative. What a relief! That had been an unnerving time, and it gets you thinking about things, like how you should never take your health for granted. Or how strong these bonds between teachers and students can be. Or how strange the grocery buying habits of college students are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I learned this after offering to pick him up some groceries. When I asked how he was situated for food, he told me he had a few cans of soup and that he would be alright. Oh, OK. Sure! \u201cText me a list and I\u2019ll pick you up something,\u201d I remember writing him, thinking a carton of ramen noodles and a bag of beef jerky would do the trick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wrote back, \u201cAre you sure? Okay, let me think. I\u2019ll keep it simple,\u201d and then rattled off a list that a sociologist will one day have to explain to me. It went like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember slumping back in my seat at the sight of it. Not because he would ask for so much \u2013 college students are ALWAYS hungry! \u2013 but rather the oddness of it. How nothing seemed to go together. It was like some kind of modern artwork that you stare at for hours, but can never find the rhyme or reason behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat kind of list is this!?!\u201d I remember texting back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I needed clarification. More specifics. This list left too much up to the imagination. Like \u201cmeat.\u201d I pictured myself going up to the butcher and asking if he had any \u201cmeat\u201d in the storage freezer because everything out on the shelves was neatly labeled \u201cchicken\u201d or \u201cpork\u201d or \u201cground round.\u201d And I just needed \u201cmeat.\u201d Everyday, generic, un-determinable meat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or \u201cChunky Soup.\u201d This one really made me uncomfortable. Soup is a very personal thing. Some would argue it defines you. You can\u2019t just pick soup at random for a person. This was a lot of pressure to place on someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like one of those unspoken rules among men that you just don\u2019t break. You don\u2019t buy another man underwear. You don\u2019t give Valentine\u2019s Day gift advice about what to get for a significant other, and you don\u2019t take tips on how to do electrical work. One will get you killed, and the other will get you electrocuted. Soup is up there on that list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or \u201ctaco sauce.\u201d Taco \u2026 sauce! What even is that?!? I went to the grocery store twice for him, and both times he asked for taco sauce and ketchup. Both were essential. I could skip everything else, but please don\u2019t forget the taco sauce. What did he do with them? \u201cPut them on eggs!\u201d I was told. (The exclamation point seemed to express, \u201cDuh!\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I should note that while my family has never used taco sauce, we have been working on the same bottle of ketchup for the last 13 years. So, how anyone could go through two bottles of each in a little over a week was a mystery to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, these here are hard times and you need what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he texted to tell me he got his test results back and it was negative, I felt this incredible sense of relief. You get to know these students so well, and they really do become family to you. I think that\u2019s the really special thing about the college environment, and what makes it so rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am so happy to hear this,\u201d I texted him. \u201cAnd even happier that I don\u2019t need to grocery shop for you anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fair,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, I will say I kind of miss those oddball shopping trips, and trying to figure it all out like a sociologist. When I\u2019m at the store now, I even find myself pausing by the taco sauce aisle. But I just can\u2019t bring myself to try it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was a bit of a scare earlier this month. One of my college students came down sick, and during times like these, you take that seriously. He self-quarantined himself for a little over a week before eventually getting a coronavirus test. Thankfully, it came back negative. What a relief! That had been an unnerving time, and it gets you thinking about things, like how you should never take your health for granted. Or how strong these bonds between teachers and students can be. Or how strange the grocery buying habits of college students are. <\/p>\n
I learned this after offering to pick him up some groceries. When I asked how he was situated for food, he told me he had a few cans of soup and that he would be alright. Oh, OK. Sure! \u201cText me a list and I\u2019ll pick you up something,\u201d I remember writing him, thinking a carton of ramen noodles and a bag of beef jerky would do the trick. <\/p>\n
I had no idea what I was getting myself into. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[576,577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2020-nutshells","category-coronavirus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2069"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2071,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions\/2071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}