Snippet #2355699

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Pierreton Community College, Clemens Building, Room 221; 10:00 AM

History of Western Civilization, Part I

From the name alone, Philip Harding predicted that attendance would be lacking in this class. After all, as a general education, it was virtually bound by law to be like the bed of a river in a droughty land: shallow, dry, and largely pointless. He was not inclined to blame students who came infrequently to this class, as many of them had learned its material several times over in secondary school. He remembered learning it at least twice, then writing a bachelor's thesis about part of it. Then, after Slovakia, after Diane, he had taught it for decades. He was bored sick of it. He didn't blame those who were also bored of it.

That said, it still irritated him. He was more lenient about absences in this class than in some others, but he had about as much personal tolerance for it. A perpetually absent student would not get much sympathy if his grades fell behind.

Thus, a note of dry pleasure crept into Harding's voice as he finished calling roll and began his professor's spiel. "This is not a common occurrence, for every person to be in class on time. I don't expect you all to be able to manage this for every class, as accidents happen, but I do not suffer chronic abuse of the attendance policy lightly. I expect, in this class, that at 10 o'clock AM you will be in your seat and ready to take notes. Not just walking in, not just sitting down, not just leaving your car. In here, seated, and ready. This is not an 8 AM; getting here is not that difficult.

"Now, with that out of the way, permit me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Philip Harding. I graduated from William and Mary in nineteen sixty-seven, and earned my master's degree from the same in nineteen seventy. I earned my doctorate from the University of Virginia in nineteen seventy-five. I have worked both abroad and in the United States in cultural history, anthropology, and desk jobs. I have taught at Pierreton Community College for thirty years now. The wheelchair," he continued, tapping it affectionately, "is about a year old, though I've used a manual since '83. Don't ask how I came to need it." He relaxed, realizing he had tensed slightly during the last sentence. "Enough about me. Let us get down to the meat of this class."

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Overall, the class seemed to have gone well, he later reflected as he wheeled out of the classroom and down the emptying hallways. Now was time to grab a newspaper and eat lunch. He passed the small stack of papers, and grabbed the only paper he cared about, The Pierreton Tablet. A clever pun, and a well-run paper at that. Without looking at it, he laid it in his lap before he wheeled off to his office.

Inside, he placed the paper on his desk, opened the lunch he had boxed the night before, and laid out the items of it. Taking the BLT sandwich in hand, he leaned back in his wheelchair and took a bite, then picked up the paper and finally read it. The front story surprised him.

EMPTY TRUCK FOUND WITH STRANGE CARGO
A box truck was found early this morning near the Pierreton Estate Services with seven casket-sized sealed crates and no driver. Police say the license plate was from Pennsylvania, number AXY-2279. The driver was nowhere to be found, but the delivery documents were still in the truck. Police have declined to release the documents, citing that they contain personal information.

Harding sighed. An interesting morning, indeed.