(For some reason, this didn't post on Saturday when I wrote it...)
Back in Cambridge for a few days this week, researching and getting into a small amount of trouble with S. So far we've gotten to eat at some of our favorite restaurants here in town, hear our favorite Irish music played by Mr. Ronan Quinn, and receive what were in fact too many free drinks (as in, we left several of them sitting on the table untouched because we were pretty far gone already by then). Tonight we will partake of 80s night at the Phoenix, though it looks like most of the Irish carpenter community has fled the dying dollar to return to the Celtic tiger. But the thing that's really defined this trip has been the reminder of the kind of bounty you get at this type of institution. Particularly the law school. It did not train us well for how humanities programs are treated in the rest of the academy.
Example 1: The copy center, where you (or the guy who wanders in looking for a bathroom and decides he wants some expensive readings on jurisprudence) can pick up for free the coursepacks for all your courses and anything else that looks interesting. They photocopy it for you, bind it, stack it on a counter and you just walk by and get it. Like socialism.
Example 2: The coffee. Every day, even though you are kind of a nobody, just a student, some people show up and make a fuss about fixing free hot coffee for you and your classmates. The free gourmet food which is around and available 90% of the time is just an added perk.
Example 3: The quarters. In Special Collections at the Law Library, they have lockers for you to put your stuff, lockers that charge you a quarter to open them. Except that Harvard provides the quarter. They all already have quarters in the slot for you, ready to go. Of course.
Example 4: The alcohol. Constant, constant free alcohol. At a minimum, weekly free happy hours, and, more often, parties sponsored by firms with free-flowing top-shelf tequila or whatever the party theme dictates.
Example 5: The ice skating rink. They actually build an ice-skating rink outside the law school commons building every winter. With skates provided, of course.
The main thing we've noticed being back in this nest of free crap is that most of the stuff provided by Uncle H is of the luxury or convenience variety -- tunnels to keep you cozy walking between classes in winter, free shuttles to drive you all around in the evening, fancy snacks and wine at the most menial of club or classroom gatherings. None of it is essential, because people here are assumed to not need such things. It just goes to prove that the rich just get more and nicer free stuff, while the poor don't even get access to basic life necessities. Ultimately, HLS' brand of socialism made us both a little sick, even as we simultaneously took advantage of it. It's a love/hate relationship, definitely.
2 comments:
Ah yes, socialism works best among the rich (just like labor unions - see Major League Baseball). It sounds delightful and, as you mentioned, sickening at the same time. Uncle H also sounds a sweet little microcosm of the federal government (which seem appropriate given the direction of so many graduates...).
I don't like sitting on Uncle H's lap. He is creepy and he expects things from you - like donations! Although I really missed all those Celtic Tigers that used to maul me, it was good to be back home with you Camille.
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