I read it somewhere on the Internet...
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| The Medieval Bestseller I read it somewhere on the Internet... |
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Monday, January 14, 2008
Today, before I went to the Princeton Alumni luncheon, I thought I'd go to a local business to arrange for some baseball jerseys for my Monday softball team. I volunteered to order shirts for the 8 or so new people on our team since I often have days free due to the flexibility of my work schedule. Imagine my surprise when I get there at 10:30 a.m. and see a sign on the door that says, "FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE: Our hours have changed for the new year. We're open by appointment only from 10:30am-3pm, Monday - Friday. Open to the public from 3-5pm, Monday - Friday." Ok...so how exactly is it convenient for me that they're open for a grand total of two hours per day, five days a week? I think the answer is clear that it is not at all convenient for me. So let's not pretend that it is, shall we? Obviously their hours are really only convenient for them. The thing that kills me is that this morning, before I went to their business, I checked their website for their hours of operation (because I just wanted to double-check that they'd be open by 10, which is what I foolishly assumed because it's a retail business) and there are no hours listed on the website. I ended up sending them "feedback" via their website this evening about how it's fine if they want to adjust their hours to suit their needs, but let's not couch it in terms of it being "convenient," because it's not. Then, I also said they should list their hours on their website. I think it's only fair for their customers to note that before making a trip. Anyway, the luncheon was good. I decided to be springy with my outfit, wearing an aqua-colored, knee-length skirt with a white blouse over a red camisole. I definitely felt springy and dressed for the occasion, although most people were dressed in darker colors to match the season, not the weather. Overall, I am content with what I wore. I went with my pastor to the luncheon and was pleased to see that I knew a whole two people there. My friend Darren, who graduated in 2003 (I know him through my friend Heather...we never actually went to Princeton together) and my friend Luke, who graduated in 2005 (I know him through the catering job that I had). So we sat at the same table with them and some other people. The luncheon was well-attended (it seemed like there were at least 80-100 people there--a supposed record) and held in a very swanky room. Both Dr. & Mrs. Torrance were there and the thing that was so touching for me personally was to be able to greet them after the luncheon and for them to remember me and greet me by name. I just think so highly of them both. What was really interesting was to hear about the future direction of the seminary. There's a lot of change happening (or about to happen) both with some of the married student housing and with the curriculum/structure of the MDiv program. However, the biggest and most exciting news to me has to do with the library. Princeton has the 2nd largest theological library in the world (it truly is very fine despite the fact that I never used it until I was in my second year), following only the Vatican. In addition to wanting to renovate one of our existing libraries, they're working on expanding our collection to be the largest theological library in the world. Dr. Torrance said something very funny like, "So the Pope better watch out." What makes this particularly exciting, in my opinion, is the reason why and the way how they're going about it. In an effort to look outside of Princeton to the needs of the larger church (especially the church in the developing world), they're in the process of digitizing the entire library so as to be able to be accessed to anyone throughout the world for free. I think this is pretty amazing and is very thoughtful in helping seminaries and pastors throughout the world who simply have little to no resources to fall upon. I can foresee some problem, however, in that the developing world doesn't have the access to technology/internet like we have in the Western world, but I think that will continue to change and improve and will certainly be better by the time Princeton manages to digitize their collection. Anyway, early day tomorrow at the hospital so I best be getting to bed. This is my first day working after a five day "weekend." I'm working for the rest of the week, which is a major bummer, but it's been nice to have this extended time off. - Jenny, 1/14/2008 11:25:00 PM |
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