What Sean Had for Lunch

Sean at school offered the most unique reason why he didn’t have his essay for class. The seventeen-year-old explained that his paper was on his portable flash drive, but he got sick and threw up on it. The vomit, he went on to say, messed up the drive and he could no longer access his files. He said that he even took it to a Korean computer fix-it shop, but even they—those who supposedly work wonders with puke-soaked electronics—could not retrieve the needed paper.

It reminds me of a bit of writing advice from Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451. “Throw up on your typewriter in the morning; clean it up in the afternoon.” I wonder if this is what Sean had in mind. Someone forgot to tell him that Ray meant this figuratively.

I gave him an extension mainly because I was amused. I excused myself from class, went to the staff bathroom, and washed my hands. Twice.