The Class Trip

The Class Trip

Barbara, who was my girlfriend at the time, was taking a Geology course in college.

She took this course because she had to fulfill her Science requirement and it was considered easier than Physics, Chemistry or Biology.

The course was taught by a professor who took everything seriously and it was actually a good course, I would have found it interesting.

There was a field trip scheduled for a Spring weekend to the Delaware Water Gap.  It sounded like fun and I asked Barbara if I could go along.  She agreed.

That Saturday morning, we all assembled in the school parking lot.  There were several buses and lots of students.  I boarded the bus with Barbara and her friend Cindy, no-one asked if I belonged, and we took off for a 2 hour ride to the Delaware Water Gap.

We happened to be on the bus the professor was on, and he spent the whole time discussing what we would see there and the types of geographic features we were travelling on.

We finally got to the location and it was quite exciting.  We climbed up and down the area, finding trilobites and other fossilized sea animals from when the area was part of the ocean.  We spent several hours there exploring.

It was sunny and hot, and everyone was tired by the time we got back on the buses.

Once again, the professor was droning on about what we had seen. 

As the buses continued down the highway back to Queens, everyone was slumping in their seats.

Undeterred, the professor, speaking with a megaphone, sought to keep our attention with his lecture.  He continued speaking and trying to get everyone to pay attention.

After about a half hour, everyone had a glazed expression on their faces, the professor oblivious to his audience continued unabated.

He decided to quiz the students on the bus.  He asked, “What type of geographic feature are we riding on?”

He hoped someone would say “Alluvial Plain”.

I looked around, everyone was dog tired, something had to be done. What did I, not a student in the class have to lose?

Wise ass that I was, I shouted out, “Asphalt”.

The professor was startled.  He looked around to see who had said that.  He realized no one was prepared to participate in any lesson. He sat down and didn’t say anything for the rest of the trip.

Barbara, goody two shoes that she was, turned bright red and slumped down in her seat to try to disassociate herself from me.

I would like to think everyone else was very grateful for the peace and quiet.