I forgot my parking permit today, which meant I had to park in the local garage, which meant that on my way to my office, I passed the coffee shop that is becoming the unofficial English Department lounge, which meant that I almost certainly had to stop in for a mocha this morning, which meant that I expected to see the student from my Brit Lit class who works behind the counter.

As i walk in, I see she's behind the counter, talking to another student in my class (both of whom I respect immensely, BTW). Neither noticed me, though they were clearly discussing Wednesday's impending midterm and today's review session.

The first full comment I heard was, "Well, he's pretty good at covering the stuff on the syllabus."

"I try," I interjected.

Red faces around. At least they were saying something NICE about me.