"Chinese Food, Downtown St. Pete, and Expository Writing"

This is a story about a tooth brush, a large bridge, forgotten toll money and parking spaces. Or, maybe it's a tale of clean laundry, the morning commute, being late and new beginnings. Or maybe it's simpler than that. Or more complex.

This is a story about time, late and early, old and new.

Fittingly, Robert's second day at his new school began, like so many before, with a clock, an incessant alarm screaming him into motion. It was fifteen minutes shy of 10 a.m. This being a special occasion of sorts, the opening week of spring semester at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, where he had recently graduated to from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Robert gave himself plenty of time to get ready.

Twenty minutes.

Robert kept a tight schedule, and any variation of his agenda threatened to throw his program into a state of disarray. Feeling the pressure, Robert clawed through the dryer for his cargo shorts putting the finishing touches on his daily oral procedure. It was ten minutes past ten o'clock, and Robert was already five minutes behind schedule.

Somewhere, he would have to compensate. Progress was nearly in sight when he realized a crucial miscue -- he had left his Sunshine Skyway toll money at home next to his bed. This, he was certain, would be his demise. He busted a U-turn and returned home, snatching two crumpled bills from his nightstand… lets face it…he would rather be late than pay a fine for running a toll. He was 20 minutes behind schedule…he acts like speed racer heading towards I-75. Fortunately, there was not too much traffic on I-75 North to 275 West on to exit 22 and a couple miles to campus.

He made good time, but was not yet in the clear. He frantically searched the parking lot near the business building, but the only open spots were reserved for the boat club. His blood pressure rapidly increased. He expanded his search for a parking spot beyond the business school area, eventually finding an open stall. It was 10:55 a.m., and Robert was walking briskly toward the business building, remembering how he used to run to class at FSU a few months earlier.

By 10:59 a.m., Robert's rally was nearly complete. He exited the elevator on the third floor of the building and entered the door to GEB4890. No open seats. This always happened to Robert when was late to class. He manages to find a desolate chair in the back of the classroom, and behind a pillar. At least the class is over in roughly 3 hours.

Alas, it was the first day. The teacher briefly discussed the syllabus and class was dismissed by 11:30 a.m., leaving Robert with considerable time before his 2 p.m. expository writing class. Instead of going to the library, Robert ventured into downtown St. Petersburg, discovering the tourist trap/political protest venue/teenage skater haven called Baywalk. He thought of returning with his girlfriend and friends sometime.

After further exploration, a chance meeting with New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui and lunch at a strip mall Chinese restaurant, Robert glanced at his watch and realized expository writing was going to begin in fifteen minutes from. TIME TO GO! Would Robert’s parking anxiety be put on edge or put at ease when he returned to campus? Robert hoped that he would find that million dollar parking spot, the one right at the front of the building. Either way, Robert did not want to relive his experience of arriving to class late. He wanted to find a seat in class BEFORE it started.

This time, he found a parking spot with little effort. Robert was highly relieved. It has been several years since he had taken a college-level English or writing class. Arriving to class five minutes early, he thought about the English classes he had taken in high school. They were boring and seemed to last forever, he recalled. Robert predicted that this class would be similar, except 3 hours long instead of 45 minutes.

That opinion quickly changed during expository writing. After the Professor, Trey, does a quick overview of the class, Robert is both relieved and confused. He is relieved that this class was not going to be the typical formal English class. However, Robert is confused about exactly what the hell a wiki is and what needs to be done with it. After class, Robert goes home and attempts to launch the website. Somehow he forms a new wiki, and says to himself "Oh great I broke something" and turns off the computer in disappointment. The next class his anxiety is reduced because he realizes that the problem was recording the course URL off of the board incorrectly. After that second class, Robert again went home and launched the correct website. He feels like he did when he first made the website for his family business, Elite Electric Fireplaces. He has no idea what was up from down. His head begins to hurt and felt like it was going to explode due to all the frustration. After a few hours, he feels a little bit more comfortable on the wiki. After the next couple of weeks, Roberts finds that the wiki is more user-friendly than not, and a lot easier to work with than Verizon web hosting. Like the Chinese food restaurant and downtown St. Pete, Robert learns about the wiki through exploration, although the wiki isn't as delicious as Chinese food.