01 March 2009

We May Not Live in Siberia, But...

"In single file, making no effort to keep up with each other, every man looking bulky because he was muffled up in every piece of clothing he possessed, they trudged across to the midway with not a sound except for the crunch of snow underfoot. It was still dark, although a greenish light was brightening in the east. A thin, treacherous breeze was creeping in from the same direction.
There is no worse moment than when you turn out for work parade in the morning. In the dark, in the freezing cold, with a hungry belly, and the whole day ahead of you. You lose the power of speech. You haven't the slightest desire to talk to each other."


This is from One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch. I know it's describing a morning in a Soviet gulag, and that these men have a far more miserable life than I can possibly understand, and that they're off to work all day in sub-zero weather rather than sit in warm classroom buildings. But all the same, when I read this, I couldn't help but think of students on their way to class at 8 AM in Hillsdale, Michigan.


"Muffled up in every piece of clothing [they] possessed, they trudged across to the midway with not a sound except for the crunch of snow underfoot." Yep, that's about it. :o)

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