2-0

With tonight's graduation ceremony in the manbag, Luca has already clocked two more than me* 

It was an evening full of positivity and optimism in Newpark, as they were reminded of just how brilliant a group they are, and that the world is their oyster and  that they should always believe in their dreams and live their lives to their full potential. 

Unfortunately I was rugby-tackled on my way to the podium and it's a pity because I had prepared an eye-opening little piece about the trauma of not fitting in when first arriving in college - and possibly for the following 3 to 4 years, the anxiety related to not being able to find a job after graduating and then the slow suffocation experienced when irremediably sinking into the first one that you actually manage to get. 
I had a few funny bits prepared about the toxicity of office politics, the joy of reporting to moronic managers who have connections rather than talent and the thrill of having the biggest part of your life dictated by psychopathic CEOs and their unquenchable thirst for profit. 

I just managed to wriggle out of the grip of the three PE teachers who had pinned me to the ground and was just getting started on the topic of endemic workplace bullying when they switched the electricity off. 

Bollix. I'll be better prepared for Mimi's graduation. I'll have a battery-operated megaphone with me. 


* I remember vividly my own graduation, from Université de Nancy II. It consisted of a 20 minute wait in a bleak corridor for a bleak civil servant to come and sellotape three A4 sheets on the Notice Board of Lament. The celebration started when you found your name on the list. The more exuberant might say something like "wow, brilliant, your name is there. Isn't that great, now get on with life..."