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the way things work

My plan:
1. Send email to professor on Sunday night with a question.
2. Receive eager response on Monday morning, Tuesday morning at the latest.
3. When eager response not received by Wednesday afternoon, go to professor's office and demand that he respond to you.
4. When professor appears not to be in his office, stand in hallway and play with iPhone just in case he walks by in the next fifteen minutes.
5. When professor does not appear, walk back to library in the cold wind and ask God if he has a better plan.

Better plan:
1. Send email to professor on Sunday night with a question.
2. Wait patiently for a few days.
3. Stop in at the professor's office on Wednesday to follow-up.
4. In case professor is not in office, don't worry, just go to library.
5. After picking up books at library, get on subway to go home.
6. Transfer subway lines and while waiting for the next train, look around.
7. See a woman looking at you. Do I know her? Look away. Look back at her. Yes, I do know her.
8. Smile at woman coming over to talk to you.
9. Say, "Hi, I was just at your husband's office and he wasn't there."
10. Have a great talk with professor's wife while riding on the subway.
11. Have message delivered in person to professor by loving wife.
Nellie is a well-trained dog belonging to my friends. This is a photo of Nellie's front paws. She knows something about letting her master dictate her behaviour. She also knows when she is supposed to keep her paws off something.

Comments

Shelley said…
so which plan did you follow?
Matte Downey said…
I tried "my plan" first, then jumped to "better plan" after "my plan" lost steam, though I skipped a few of the first steps due to already having done them according to "my plan."
Anonymous said…
Great story... Fate? Great coincidence? Worked either way :)
Lori said…
We should all be as smart as Nellie :)

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