Bullet points (travel edition)!

• Here is something I never considered before working in Higher Education: skipping your mature, intelligent, and motivated elementary-school child forward a grade or two may seem like a great idea.  In a few years, though, that child will be 15 or 16, and they will be applying to colleges, and possibly moving into dorms where they are surrounded by 18-22 year-olds, and the whole thing creates a bit of a dilemma for colleges.  Even if a 16-year-old feels ready to move out on their own and far away from their family, should they?  And even if they are really mature, is it a good idea to throw them into the stressful college environment?  And which 18-year old do you pick to room with the super-young freshman?
• I believe that hotel restaurants should not have the word "bunion" in their names.  Someone at this Holiday Inn disagrees with me.
• I have mentioned before that people point out how young I look at every single high school I visit.  That's approximately 2 staff members at approximately 4 high schools a day for approximately 9 weeks of travel.  I am pretty used to this now and have several prepared responses that I rotate through so as not to sound too rehearsed.  In the last few weeks, however, I've gotten a few comments that have thrown me for a bit of a loop.  Keep in mind that these comments have all come from complete strangers within the first 10 seconds or so of meeting me.  They include:
• "You look like you should be in a fairy tale" (???)
• "You're adorable!" (This one was paired with her shaking my hand, then squeezing it, then holding on to it for a looong time while she gave me directions to the career center)
• "One day some nice guy will come along and appreciate how young you look" (Hmm . . . I wonder what Travis will think)
• I know it shouldn't be a big deal, but I felt really relieved when I pulled up to a gas station today and realized that I was in California, which meant I could pump my own gas!  I can't recollect ever being in the car with an Oregonian while they pulled up to the pump and let the attendant pump their gas, and hence I am constantly worried about doing something wrong.  Plus, as discussed in past blog posts, sometimes you are in a hurry and just want to pump your own gas instead of waiting for the one stressed-out, super busy attendant.
• Here is a little family of bottled waters I received today:

Clearly I looked less thirsty when I was at Foothill High School than I did at Shasta High and the hotel check-in counter