people observation #9: The cruciverbalist don't know what she got til it's gone.

This is where the story begins: Tuesday morning in Morton hall.I sit on the floor outside of my philosophy class waiting for the previous one to get out. I always have about ten minutes to spare, a perfect time to eat an apple (which by the way will do a better job waking you up than a cup of coffee!) and start on the daily Post Crossword. Literally, my favorite thing to do during my six hours of class everyday is this Crossword. Lame? I think not.

So here I am, skimming through articles. (I don't want admit to being one of those people who pick up the paper JUST for the Crosswords and Sudokus in the back, but I totally am.) I always fold the newspaper nicely into three sections so I can easily pull the crossword out as I'm working on it throughout the day. But on this particular day this is what happens: I get to the back page -and remember guys, this being a newspaper it's probably janked with bad news- I see the worst news in the whole issue; the crossword had been placed in the middle of the fold.

That's right. I had to readjust everything. Pain in the donk.

Call me crazy, but I am not alone. Later that day in US History, I saw the kid three seats over whip out the crossword for a little mid-lecture entertainment, and with a sigh, a similar expression to mine that morning wiped across his face. He was all"who the H laid out this page? What were they thinking?"

I gotta tell you three-seats-over kid, clearly, the answer to your question is that they were not thinking. So next thing Greg sitting next to me leaned over and told me about his internship at a newspaper this summer. He said that the day the publication received the most complaining phone calls was the day somebody had moved the crossword onto the fold.

At that moment, I was embarrassed. Like, was I really wasting my energy on a complaint so stupid as the placement of the crossword puzzle in the school newspaper? Really, Erin? The CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Like you couldn't find anything better to complain about? The clouds? The heat?

Well, I've made this point in a previous post that complaining is something I hate, and I can't help but stress that it's something we all do. Sure, the crossword is the one thing in my day that I can call a part of a routine. My life is jam-packed full of a beautiful brand of spontaneity, and as much as I love it, I'm an American too, which means I like my same-old same routine. I just think sometimes we like our little daily quirks, and god forbid the inevitable change messes that up, right? Wrong. I love the quote, "the only constant in life is change." Because it is so true, and the more we can understand that, the more we can fall in love with it.

So I stopped myself from calling and complaining to the Post that day. I can assure you though somebody noticed; the placement of Wednesday's crossword was the best damn layout I ever did see. Sudoku and Crossword on the same. side. of. the. page. All I gotta say is Amen.