I was recently given a belated birthday gift by a retired professor in my department. Actually, I wasn't given it--I have to go retrieve it. "It" is a designer top of my choosing from an upscale ladies boutique that I've never heard of, nor have had any reason to know of, as it probably does not cater to my mainstream fashion and discount shopping sensibilities. When he told me of his intended gift while in my office one day, he encouraged me to go to this store, and told me its whereabouts, and pick out a nice top--any top I wanted, regardless of price--and just tell the clerk that he was paying for it. When I tried to refuse such a kind gift, he became very stern and repeated, "please, please." With such mannerly insistence, how could I then decline the offer? So I accepted, and agreed to go to the boutique and pick out a top of my liking regardless of price and tell the salesperson, "it's on Dr. So-and-so." When I pictured myself doing this, I couldn't help but conjure up images of a certain film about a classless prostitute who is made proper by her rich and cultured client, suddenly imbued with a conscience to help the poor girl. So in an effort to fix her up, he sends her on a shopping spree to designer stores she would never have previously patronized, or had the means to patronize. This made me further wonder, what was this professor thinking when he thought of such a gift for me? Did he view me as a hard-working but unfortunate young girl in need of refinement? I began questioning my own self image, which I didn't consider to be terribly tragic or in need of revision. Perhaps, though, his motive was as innocent as wanting to give a nice gift to me, but not wanting to risk picking something out himself. In such an instance, though, as one keen friend pointed out, the modern day gift card might have sufficed.
Even though it is still technically spring time, the summer college semester begins in one week, the weather is consistently sunny and mid-80s, and baseball season is in full bloom. I embrace this time of year as a time to extend my outside activities beyond my nightly walks, to bike rides, benefit runs, beach days, and a newfound interest in softball. Yesterday Joe and I began the day with a 7:25am 5K run to benefit the Child Abuse Council . One of Tampa's largest and most regular 5Ks, the Gunn Allen Financial May Classic brought out over 1,500 of Tampa's athletes and do-gooders. Since it was a last-minute decision for us to register, we did not have a a chance to train, but we had both been keeping a somewhat regular exercise schedule in the weeks leading up to the run. Our goal was to finish, preferably to finish running. And we did. 36 minutes of concrete pounding, rhythmic breathing, and humanistic awareness, and we had completed our first 5K together, having run th...
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