Major Wardrobe Malfunction

A week later it was time to talk to parents once again but this time it was scheduled for a bit later in the day which meant that I could go home, relax and recuperate before hitting the trail for a second time that day. This required multiple layers and forms of clothing. But of course I wanted to look my best for the parents since many of them were there simply to have a look, after all how much can you say in five minutes? So I put on my favorite dangly coral earrings and covered my neck and lower face with a fuzzy warm scarf. Once on the bike path, I realized that something wasn't right. One earring had caught on the scarf, but how was I to untangle it in the growing darkness with gloves on, etc. I was beginning to think that my ear lobe might tear. Oh woe! So after crossing at a major light for which I had to wait the maximum, I pulled the scarf free, only to hear a small object fall to the ground, and I removed what was left of one earring. Although I had heard that wearing just one earring was "in" in Germany, I didn't have the time to consider whether to do anything about earring number two. I simply got onto the bicycle highway (the Pronenade) as quickly as possible and fantasized about arriving two minutes late and not only cutting into the five minute appointment set for me at 4pm but also about a lasting impression someone might have of "late" American exchange teachers. Thirty parents later, I began to muse upon all of the single earrings I have collected over the years. The next morning fortunately was a later morning for me, which meant I could re-visit the scene of the crime in daylight. For the first time, I discovered that scraping hardened, stuck-on frost off of a bicycle seat requires quite different motions than when scraping a car windschild clean. I knew exactly where the small object had fallen and there is where I found it, unscathed. Miracle of miracles, it had not rained in the night and no one else had gone to that spot right next to the advertising column on the corner of Niedersachsenring and Goldstraße, looking for treasure. It was a happy camper who peddled on to school that day. It was also a pleasure to see how many students were handing me work which had been delayed but which the parents had managed to maneuver out of them on the day after parent talk day number two.