Jake Bustamante Journal #5

I sit here positioned every day, watching the busy music students shuffle past to make it to class on time. The Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi use us every day and watch with us the passers gone by. We occasionally get moved to make bigger or smaller groups, but we don't mind at all. The attention we get every day combined with the conversations we hear make our existence meaningful. We have been here for years and get treated so well that we will be here for much longer. I guess most people would think that we just get used at the expense of the Brothers and the music students, but we like serving our purpose.

I transport people up and down the floors of Squires every day. People who use me think I'm way too slow, but that's only because I'm getting old. The ones who need to use me are the grateful ones, and that makes me feel so much better. I've witnessed so many silences and conversations that could have happened between people but never did. I just wish that I could have made some indication that strangers should talk more. Occasionally, I would get stuck and strangers would have no choice but to talk to each other while they wait for me to start working again. It's just my little way of pushing people in the right direction.

I come here to get work done, at least that's what I tell myself when I get here. It always turns out that there are people here with exciting stories and the curious side of me can't help but engage them in conversation daily. The time flies and I learn so much about other people's experiences, to the point where I do not even feel like I wasn't productive. My productivity was learning to see other people in a new light. I can always study, but people are fleeting, and I fear that I may never see them again if I don't take the opportunity to befriend them.