A Higher Education
I knew Professor Ferguson would be at this conference, but I hadn’t prepared for this encounter. Because she faces the check-in clerk I only hear her voice, which never failed to reach the back of the auditorium.
“I don’t want two single beds. I have no need for them,” she says in a tone that bears no contesting. As sorry as I feel for the person behind the desk, I can’t help but enjoy Professor Ferguson’s attitude. She won’t back down. Professor Joanne Ferguson was never known for backing down.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Ferguson,” the guy behind reception says in a practiced, calm voice with a very strained undertone. “We’re fully booked because of the conference.”
I shuffle forward a bit—get a whiff of her nutty, heavy perfume in the process—and try to catch the clerk’s att
