Tales of the Young Woodhead - The triple crown of sleep inducing events

At college, the food was very good, but predictable.? During the academic year, every other Monday was chili over rice. (They were served separately, so you could have chili without rice if you so desired, or rice without chili, but I never saw anyone make these choices). The nickname for this dish was ‘Mexican Sominex’. The fact that it was tasty meant no one was passing on this meal.

Somehow, this also happened to occur the day a major paper was due for some class and given the traditional student penchant for staying up all night writing a paper the night before it was due, the students were predictably sleepy.? The first class after lunch also happened to be Philosophy. (Obviously, this was the plot of some evil genius.)

So, given a starch-laden meal, the effects of an all-nighter, and a less than exciting class, the results were predictable.? The instructors were quite good and the topics interesting, but the cards were tacked against them.? Class sizes were small (approximately 15 students per class.) Students that were sleepy were encouraged to stand next to the wall. There was no stigma attached to the students’ attempts to remain awake.?

Imagine, however, the instructors’ reaction when they strode into the classroom and every student was already standing against the wall. ?My instructor took it in stride, merely asking, “Mexican Sominex for lunch?”, and proceeded with the class.

Even today, I will frequently make Mexican Sominex for dinner.