Graduation and Such
I awoke Saturday morning surprisingly refreshed. It was brisk- in the 50s -outside, and I had slept with the window open. Something about the cool air was invigorating, and the fact that the nineteen drinks I had consumed the previous night had no hangover effects on me at all, made the morning especially nice. I checked an old email from Heidi, to check what time her graduation ceremony would be, and saw that I needed to be down at Theis Park by one o'clock. I skipped breakfast, and started disrobing for a shower, when the phone rang. Cole was going to the same graduation, for Andi, who was also walking that day. So, we agreed to meet at the bus stop at 12:25, and go down to the Plaza area together.

I hung up, completed preparing for the shower, and the water was running when the phone rang again. I don't like missing phone calls, so I went back into my room and answered it, steam building up in the bathroom all the while. I had to regretfully turn down an invitation to go and get a cup of coffee with a friend, and leapt into the shower for a lively scrubbing and half-shave.

I started walking toward the bus stop, and saw that there was some sort of urban living party going on over at Barney Allis Plaza. I dumbly accepted all leaflets and brochures that were handed to me, and was the subject of confused scrutiny as I walked right past everything. I guess they didn't expect anyone that actually lives downtown to walk by, on other business. The "next bus arriving" signs were broken again, and the bus was a good ten minutes late. This guaranteed Cole and me a chance to get there with time to leaf through the "Downtown Map" brochure I had been given, noting the bars we had never heard of, and resolving to someday visit them.

The bus was very crowded, which was very encouraging. I see more people riding all the time, even during off-peak hours. It's a complete reversal in ridership from when I first moved to town five years ago. Cole and I noticed a rather pathetic protest of people supporting the legalization of marijuana. I support it too, but these people, numbering no more than thirty or forty, were morons. Tie-dyed shirts, long hair, hemp clothes, and an altogether unwashed look did nothing but illicit stereotypical comments from passersby. As the bus stopped at the light at JC Nichols, one of them held up a crudely-made sign that read, in big scrawled green letters, "Can't we all just get a bong?"

"Despicable hippies," Cole dryly breathed.

It also kind of bothered me that they chose Mill Creek Park as their protest site, right next to a popular spot for driving. Some day, someone might hold a protest downtown, instead of in a car-centric shopping center for suburbanites. I sighed, and pulled the stop cord.

We made our way toward the park, through an area that is patently hostile to pedestrians, and arrived amid a mess of traffic and honking horns, to see the opening procession of the capped and gowned honorees. The majority of the seats were occupied by family, friends, and well-wishers of the graduates, so Cole and I circled the masses for a few minutes. After a little while, I spoke up.

"This is boring, and I'm hungry. Let's go to Winstead's."

"That's an excellent idea," Cole said.

We enjoyed some of the best burgers available in KC, and sat at our leisure for perhaps forty five minutes, before heading back to the park. When we got back, people were starting the endless march across the stage. This was UMKC's College of Arts and Sciences' graduation, and was hence the largest ceremony of the year, with a graduating crowd of, I'd guess, about 1200 people. It really is amazing how an event which is the culmination of the work and achievement for these people can be reduced to a mindless tedium. But they pulled it off.

We found Andi's brother Zach, and walked closer to the stage with him to find Ryan, Andi's husband, waiting expectantly for his wife to make her walk. Amazingly, even though Cole and I skipped away for hamburgers, I still managed to see both Heidi and Andi accept their diplomas. Actually, they weren't even diplomas. They were vouchers for diplomas. It had been decided much earlier that the Andi crowd would head to Charlie Hooper's in Brookside to celebrate, and they invited Cole and me. We accepted.

After the cap-throwing and recession, Cole started to make our way back to the bus stop, and decided along the way to walk the sixteen blocks to Brookside instead. Nevertheless, when we saw the stop at 51st, we made a beeline for it. We waited for a couple minutes before deciding to keep walking, and catch the bus if it comes by. About a block south, we turned around and saw teh bus at the stop where we had just been standing. I raised my arm in signal as it approached, and it roared right past us, with the driver not so much as shaking his head at us.

Disappointed, we kept walking, and were trying to find a break in traffic through which to cross the street, when Andi's father pulled up and offered us a ride. We gratefully hopped in the car, and were among the crowd at Hooper's in minutes. We played some foosball, said hello, and watched some trick bowling thing on TV. I managed to get one beer down, before I decided I was too tired to be out anymore. It was about 3:45 PM.

I took another very crowded bus back downtown, and went home. As I write this, I haven't been out of the apartment, or indeed even my room, since I got back. I anticipate a pleasant relaxing Sunday.

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