This is nothing like college

Rodney Dangerfield's Back to School left me woefully unprepared for my return to the classroom.

Granted, I am in a 9-5 class at work about a new computer system we're getting, not on a campus full of dumb jocks and pretty girls. But, I've finished day 2 of the class today, and no one has invited me to a crazy bacchanal or even asked me to perform the Triple Lindy.

I am getting disillusioned and really tired.

At first, I thought the class would be a fun change of pace, even though I wouldn't get to work on the Detroit auto show much. I am also the only person with a dotcom background and several people have told me how key I will be in designing the new dotcom interface. I also got $10 worth of gift cards to the cafeteria so I was thinking, "cool."

But I never knew how tiring it is to try to listen to someone when you can't hear that well. There are just nine of us in the class, so it is not like I sit far away. I can hear the instructors fine, until they start talking to another student.

I also didn't realize how much I use sight to type and how hard that is in the dark. It's dark so we can see the big screen at the head of the class.

The bathroom in the conference room area is good and bad. The door is not automatic but is quite light, and they are several wheelchair stalls. I can't really reach the paper towels to dry my hands off, though, so I dry my hands on my shirt.

Today, I left the bathroom (is it odd I originally wrote "I walked out of bathroom?) and this co-worker was there and he introduced me to a few other folks. I debated declining to shake hands because my hands were damp, then I decided: Screw it, it's the towel inaccessibility, let them get a taste. So I shook hands. They probably thought I was a slob or something. Not sure it was the right call.

It's better than when in Back to School Rodney spits out a meatball into his hand, discards it, then tries to shake someone's hand. So don't watch Back to School for classroom tips, but it has got etiquette galore. And a Springsteen reference!