The Building and the Dog

Neither the dog nor the building exist. Usually when I say where I went to school I say, "I did time at Ohio State." This was the front of Robinson Lab where I did a lot of time. It was home to the mechanical engineering department at OSU. In front of it, waiting for the bus, is my dog Gordie.

There were many times I would have given anything to watch them tear that building down. In fact, I would have helped. The last time I was in the building I think it was to look at grades on my last final or something like that.

I walked out of that building for the last time with my friend Colin who was the embodiment of Wayne from Wayne's World. Colin had long black hair like Wayne. He had the goofy smile and did that deal where he would flip his hair behind his shoulders and said stuff like, "Sphincter says what?" and he was from "Chicagoland". Colin was going to work for the "cron" as he put it, Cincinnati Milacron that is. I still had yet to land a job.

Anyway, as soon as the door shut behind us he ceremoniously turned around to face the building, bent down on his knees, raised both fists into the air and with middle fingers extended yelled obscenities at the building. Actually he yelled only two words and only one of those was an obscenity. The other was just a personal pronoun. It was a good obscenity though, you know, right at the top of the list and all.

Just like me he seemed to have had years of built up frustration and angst poised for the moment and this apparently was that moment. Me, I just stuffed it. Although it did take me four years before I would actually drive through Columbus as opposed to using the outer belt - even at 2 in the morning. I did well in college but I did not skate.

The "dog" Gordie is another story altogether. Gordie was kind of like Jimmy Neutron's mechanical canine, "Goddard." He was indomitable. Okay, it's too late and I can not pronounce the word so I guess that's all I have to share for now.