Some people do not follow cultural codes.

I came to the library (where I am now) early this morning in order to do some homework. As is my normal morning routine, I put Vitamin E on my face (specifically, my scar). That's what the doctor told me to do.

As I walked through the third floor on my way to the LRC (incidentally, a place where talking is not recommended), some boys paced in with my step. One of them looked over at me as if about to say something, so I turned to him with raised (in questioning, I thought) eyebrows.

"Are you sad?" he asked.

"Am I sad? Umm . . . no, do you ask me because my cheek is wet?"

"Sure," he replied.

And then I proceeded to tell him about my morning routine. How I wake up and then I usually take a shower--or don't shower, depending on the day--then, I get dressed, brush my teeth, floss (sometimes), eat breakfast, read scriptures, etc.

Actually, I didn't tell him all that, although I should have, because he was defying cultural codes, so why shouldn't I? I just said that I have to put Vitamin E on my face because I have a scar.

The conversation didn't end there. "No, you just looked sad," he said.

It always bothers me when people say that, which thankfully, does not occur very frequently. It's not as if I walk around like this all the time, is it? (Notice how my scar is wet with VITAMIN E OIL. You can't even see it, in fact! And it's healing. Noted?)



In any case, for some reason, he kept walking with me. All the way up the stairs. "Who are you?" he asked.

I should have said, "I'm a child of God," because that would've been weird. But no, I have to say something completely normal. "I'm Amanda. What's your name?"

Seth, as he is named, then tells me, "We (my roommate and I) were just wondering why people come to the library early on a Saturday morning."

At this point I should have forced him into the women's bathroom and flushed his head down a toilet. But instead, I said, "Maybe they have a lot of homework, like I do."

It's been a rough morning.