Today, I went from a meeting, to another meeting, back to the previous meeting, then taught a class, then went to a meeting, then another meeting, then another meeting, and before I knew it, it was 12:25- I was nearing the the absolute last moment that a person can purchase a school lunch.
I raced to the cafeteria and begged the lunch ladies to let me skip the line. "Chicken, a roll, and black beans please!" I filled my plate, punched in my lunch number, and dashed back up the stairs to, you guessed it, a meeting.
"So sorry, I brought my lunch but I promise I won't eat in here," I squeezed myself and my lunch tray into the office. "I just didn't want to miss my window."
"Is that food actually good?" My colleague pulled a face and ogled at my cardboard tray. "I can't believe you eat from the cafeteria."
"It does the trick, and I needed to take something off my plate this year," I said, "So I made that thing packing lunch."
"It doesn't look too bad, I guess," he said, and we continued our meeting. My plate stared back at me as my stomach rumbled. The clock ticked and ticked.
30 minutes later, I went back downstairs to... another meeting! This time, I said, "Yes, I'm carrying around a cold lunch plate, do you mind if I eat it in here? I promise I'll clean up."
"Sure! But I have to warn you... I have a mouse problem in here."
I ate my cold chicken and beans in a hurry, and made sure to wipe up all the crumbs.