Prison gates won't open up for me...

Last Friday was the day of my graduation ceremony, it was definitely a day to remember! No I haven't graduated yet.. well atleast not with my Bachelors. It was a diploma of engineering, nothing big.
Nothing was going right or as planned ever since I left for uni at 8.30 am. I had one of two 4-hour-stretches in my timetable, and this one's comprised of two 2-hour labs back-to-back. I was done with classes at 1 pm, but I wasn't very productive at either one of them. I then bummed around uni for an hour or so because I was supposed to pick up the graduation gown and hat by 2.30 pm, which I did just in time. I thought I had plenty of time to go back home, shower and get dressed. I was supposed to be back by 3.30 pm in order for the ceremony to start at 4.00 pm. And I had just enough time to do what I had to do. I was done and ready to leave for the ceremony by 3.30 pm (first serious sign that things are going to get messed up!). I called a cab, waited... waited some more, called another cab company, waited.. and waited. Little did I know at the moment that cabs were no where to be found on a Friday (but I thought that was only at night!). I had no choice but to call my friends, and luckily they were having lunch right by my place. They were kind enough to give me a ride to uni, and just as we left one of the two cab-drivers I called for had arrived. We all cracked up and ignored him. The time was 4.07 pm. Yes that certainly means that the ceremony has begun. I arrived at the theatre doors by 4.12 pm, and I was holding both my graduation gown and hat. As I walked down that semi-walkthrough to the actual seats and stage, I noticed that the engineering program manager (top dawg lol) was on stage, behind the microphone, mumblimg some words. As I got closer I heard:

"...and the January 2006 graduates of the diploma of engineering are... Arabian Prince" (obviously my real name)

a rather long pause, then "... Isaac Newton" (whatever the guys name was).
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to elaborate. I was nervous, awestruck, bedazzled... I had to make a split-second decision! I could either walk right onto the stage (going up the wrong end!) and without having my graduation gown on OR I could've just silently walked over to the right side of the stage to stand at the back of the line of engineering students that were being called out to recieve their certificates.
I opted for option number two. I would've made a big scene if I had gone for option number one. I'm sort of glad I didn't.
I stood there at the back of the row not knowing what was going to happen. There was this lady on my left, she asked me whether I was an engineering student and whether I should be in this line waiting for my name to be called out. I assured her that I was. She then asked me to put on my gown quickly (something I hadn't done up until then!). I then stood there with a semi-dorky smile, wondering why I was even waiting. Just before the line had come to an end (by 3-4 students), I said to the lady:

"But my name has already been called. It was the first name"

She then smiled and asked me to find myself a seat and wait until the end of the ceremony to collect it afterwards. I smiled back, looked around for a seat, and sat my sorry ass down. But what no one knew is that on my way to my seat, I said to myself "Sons of my bit**es!!" and then sat down.

Ok it's not as bad as it seems, because only half of the graduating engineering students actually attended the ceremony. That's because we were given the option of attending the ceremony, otherwise we would just have to wait 3 more days to pick it up ourselves. However I compensated for all of that by taking pictures, so many pictures, something I hardly ever do regardless of the occasion. I bumped into the engineering program manager (the guy who was calling out the names), and he said "Hey... where were you when I called out your name?". I explained what had happened and he said in a very sarcastic tone "You still think you're in class don't you" lol

That's that! And for the dimwitted readers out there, yes ofcourse I got my certificate in the end! :p


**Announcement: A collection of pics were piling up so I thought it would be a good idea to update my flickr account