The Serendipitous Elevator

Published by lawrence on May 2, 2007

Our adventure begins on Tuesday October 22, 2004. It was a normal school day for me, class from 10am-11am and then again 2pm- 7:30pm. Being the typical college student I was, my appearance at the 10am class just wasn’t going to happen, besides it was raining outside. I ended up waking up around 1:30ish, dragged myself out of bed, got ready, and took off. I arrived at my first class (ICS 171 - Intro to AI) a bit late, and attempted to quietly sit down on a squeaky plastic seat. Although I had received at least 8 hours of sleep the night before, my eyelids instantly drooped after I noisily settled myself in. As I scanned through the students and saw plenty of them peacefully resting their eyes, so I decided to join them. Before I could realize I fell asleep, students started rustling their stuff and people were vacating the room. I was about to start packing my stuff, but realized I didn’t take anything out. The next class pretty much went the same. Then finally it was time for the last session of the day.

It was a lab, so I knew that it’d go by much quicker. I partnered up with someone and we finished the lab in no time. After shoving my notebook and papers in my backpack, I strolled out of the lab and headed for the elevator. I hit the button and remembered how slow this particular elevator was. A little over a minute later the elevator finally arrived and I now had a fellow classmate riding up with me. We got in, press the button for the next floor, and the doors slowly closed. I knew it’d be a long ride up, so I thought it might be awkward if I didn’t strike up a conversation. We chatted a bit about the lab, shared a few frustrations, and finally arrived at our destination. And yes, the elevator ride was THAT long for just one floor. As the doors opened and we were winding down our conversation, we noticed the rain starting up again. I fortunately had my umbrella, but my new friend didn’t. Like a gentleman, I offered to escort her to her car with my umbrella because we were in the same direction.

On our way, I found out some of her interests were computers, games, and anime, which is unheard of from most girls. When we got to my car, it had actually stopped raining and she no longer needed my assistance. By that time, I found out her name was Linda, and found out she was in both of my classes. We said our goodbyes, but I kept thinking, ‘What a coincidence’. During my drive home, I couldn’t stop thinking about how weird our encounter was and wondered if I’d even talk to her again. It had seemed like all the stars aligned for us to meet that day, and that’s where our journey began.