Non fiction
Issue #9
Time to wake up...
Damn it, it's already 10...really? I have to go to Uni -- NOW! Ok, socks, trousers, shirt, there we go. “Good morning John, coffee?”, “No thanks, I'm late. I'll grab one on the way!” Hm, there's a coffee stand on my way, but shall I get coffee or tea? I think I'd fancy a tea right now. Although coffee would probably be good to wake me up. A bit of caffeine to get my system working. But I'll meet Laura for lunch in this new Italian place - It's going to be amazing, it opened last week and we still haven't been there. And we could really use a new place to have lunch in, going to the same restaurants all the time gets boring- we'll probably have coffee afterwards. But too much caffeine is not good either. Maybe I should go for tea then. Black tea or fruit tea? No, if I have tea, I'll take a black one with a lot of milk, so I can drink it right away. Ham, I'm not sure, the stand looks a bit dodgy...Maybe I won't have anything, I'm not thirsty anyway. “Hey John!”, “Oh, Hey Sarah. Nice to meet you, what are you doing here?”, “Oh I switched courses and now I have LIT302, which started 10 minutes ago. I'm late again, the good resolutions haven't lasted long, I know” “Wow that's great, I'm in the same course. Should we have a coffee before, then? It's on me this time, what will you have?”, “Are you sure, we're late already...never mind...catching up is important too, right?! I'll have a hot chocolate, please!” “Alright, I'll have the same: Can I get 2 hot chocolates please? Here's a fiver. Keep the change. Ok, now Sarah, you have to tell me everything about this guy you met the other day!” “Alright, so we were in this club and—
What? 10 already?! Fuck. I must have forgotten to set my alarm last night. Now I'm late thanks to this bloody idiot. It's not as if I haven't told him yesterday that I can't do the night shift because I have Uni today. I hate it! I hate him! Although the tip last night wasn't too bad. 10 quid will do for the book I have to buy for—oh—for the class I have right now. And we should have bought it by now. Fuck! What shall I tell the lecturer? 'Sorry, Paul, but I simply couldn't afford a bloody book for 10 quid'. Yes, of course. Anyway, maybe I'm lucky and I can get a cheaper, used copy from Amazon, then I could meet Laura tonight for a drink... if she still wants to see me after I cancelled our dates so many times. But what was I supposed to tell her? 'We can't meet for drinks tonight, I can't afford to have anything other than tap water in a pub?' Whatever, let's go on the internet first and check Amazon. Ah- there's a mail from my landlord: Dear Ben, I know you're trying your best to get the money, but you still owe me 200 pounds rent for November, maybe you have realised that it's February now. I'll come by next Monday at 6pm to collect the money.
Fuck. How can I get 200 pounds within 5 days?! I have to call my boss! If I do the night shift again today, and maybe tomorrow, and maybe I can get Jessica's shift on Saturday and Sunday, that'll be 6 hours each, so 24 times 6,50—I must remember to remind my boss for the 7th time that I really need a pay raise—makes 156 quid, maybe 170 including tips. And I still have—
-"Damn it, can't you be more careful? No of course you can't, walking around with your fancy dresses and your takeaway coffees in your hands, which you spilled on my shirt...THANKS A LOT!” “Oh come on, we're sorry, we didn't see you. Don't be ridiculous, just take your shirt to the cleaning, it'll be fine. And it's hot chocolate by the way!”
Reflection
I wanted to illustrate two different student-lifestyles. We talked about the big gap between students' financial backgrounds. Some of them have rich parents and they do not have to worry about anything at all. Some of them take it for granted and they go to University to have a good time. It is almost as if they are buying their degree. Others are not so lucky, they have to take part-time jobs and they do not only graduate with a degree, but with a massive amount of debt. These are the students who really WANT to study and learn something, because then they have a fair chance to enter the middle-class.
John, the character of the left column, belongs to the first category. The only thing he really worries about is what kind of beverage he prefers or which place is the best to have dinner in. He has a well-working social life and he seems to be popular. Moreover, he does not have to worry about being late for Uni or studying in general, since he knows that the lecturers will help him to pass his courses. His parents pay 9000 pounds each year for his study, so he wants to enjoy his time instead of working hard. Ben, the character of the right column, is quite the opposite. He has to work a lot to be able to finance his study. He is only concerned with how he could pay his rent or buy the books for University. He does not have a lot of social contacts, because he cannot afford to go out and have drinks on the one hand, and on the other hand he simply does not have time to do so.
In the end, John and Sarah bump into Ben, which shows that they live in the same city and go to the same Uni, maybe even take the same courses; but apart from that, they have nothing in common. They accidentally spill their hot chocolates on Ben, because they “didn't see him”, which you can also read on a figurative level: people like John and Sarah are sometimes not aware of people like Ben and the problems he has to deal with every day. Of course, this story is exaggerated at some points, but I wanted to create a significant contrast between the 2 characters.
Sonja Schneiderbanger