Hello! How are you today?

This will be my eleventh week working at Big, Fancy University. Just a few more weeks and I will be off my three month probation. This means I will be able to take vacation and sick time when I want or need it and cannot easily be fired without a stream of paperwork and (hopefully) a very good reason. Yeay.

My current job is completely tolerable, and I am so very thankful to have found a position so close to Husband and home. However, and I never thought I would actually admit this, but I miss Dinky College, just a little bit. After three years as a student and one as an indentured servant, I think it's okay to fess up to missing the atmosphere and (some) people. The campus did have a very homey vibe to it and everyone pretty much knew everything about everyone else.

Something interesting I've noticed at Big, Fancy University is the anonymity of the students and employees. People walk by each other on the sidewalk with their heads down, eyes averted. At Dinky College, everyone looked each other in the eye as they passed and mouthed "hi" if they were just casual acquaintances or some other greeting if they were more friendly with one another. My former underboss (the sweetest lady in the world) would greet every single person she passed with a wide smile and loud "Hi! How are you?" She recently secured a position at Big, Fancy University and will leave Dinky College in September. I hope she keeps greeting everyone she meets even if they look away, embarrassed to have been called out of their namelessness by a stranger.

I attended a going away party for my former boss a few weeks ago at Big, Fancy University. Many of his colleagues, series editors, authors, and Library staff attended to wish him well. It was so interesting to watch and listen to the people who knew each other's names, had talked on the phone or e-mailed numerous times, but had never actually met in person. In our e-mail culture, personal letter writing and visits to one another's homes are so infrequent. I am just as guilty as everyone else. I start to forget what people look like.

So if the transition from Dinky College to Big, Fancy University has taught me anything, it is to stay connected to the people around me. Hopefully I won't just catch up on your life by reading your blog or shooting off a quick e-mail. Hopefully I take the time to have lunch with you, call you up on the phone for a long, personal conversation, or remember your birthday or a special occasion in your life and mail a card with my handwritten sentiments. I'll do my best. In the meantime: Hello! How are you today?