Lessons from a Trashbag

     This past week, my cousin invited me to go to Clemson with her for a few days.  She just started attending school there this past year, and she wanted to show me around campus and the town. I absolutely loved it! No, I haven't changed my mind about attending Furman, but Clemson's campus is beautiful and the downtown area is great, too. Heather is so proud of her college and their nursing program, which she is now a part of.  I didn't think anyone could brag on their college as much as I do about Furman, but she might actually give me a run for my money.
     The first day, we mainly shopped. I know! We're girls, and we went shopping...imagine that! We ate at this little sandwich shop called Groucho's and bought Southern Fried Cotton and Clemson shirts downtown; then, we headed to Anderson, grabbed some supper, and did even more shopping!
     We drove through Clemson the first day, but Heather wanted to give me a walking tour, too.  We waited until the second day because it started raining Wednesday night. After getting up Thursday morning and seeing that the rain had moved on, we decided that it was safe to go on a walking tour. Heather showed me the most famous buildings on campus, the popular hangout spots, and where she'd be doing all of her nursing classes.
     After touring Tillman, Heather and I decided we would go back to her car and head home. However, the weather had other plans. It started pouring, and we ran back into Tillman as quickly as we could.  The car was on the other side of campus, and there was no way to get to it without getting soaked. We sat on a bench inside and waited a few minutes, but once we saw that the storm wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, Heather said, "I have an idea."
     She headed to the bathroom and came back with several plastic trashbags. "Look online and find out how to make a rain poncho out of a trashbag!" she told me. At first, I thought she was joking. Surely, we were not going to walk around campus with a trashbag over our heads. But I quickly saw that Heather meant business. So we tore head holes in the bags and put them over our heads for protection. 
     Surprisingly, I learned a few things from this experience besides the fact that Heather and I come up with some crazy ideas! First, never get too old to have an imagination.  If Heather hadn't been quick on her feet and thought about the trashbags, we would have either been stuck in Tillman all day or gotten soaked! Heather, instead of complaining, used her ingenuity and thought outside of the box. This is something that we all need to remember from time to time. We need to remember to be resourceful because many times, we can a problem if we just use our heads!
     Second, this situation reminded me that one should never take herself too seriously. I mean, can you imagine how ridiculous we looked in our trashbags? And we saw at least four or five cute boys on our way back to the car.  But we worked those trashbags and laughed at ourselves the whole way back home.
     Sometimes, it's these simple predicaments in life like forgetting an umbrella that teach us the biggest lessons. At times, we all need those reminders to still use our imaginations and to laugh at ourselves.  Life is way too short to take yourself seriously! So remember: laugh at yourself, have fun, and learn some lessons from the trashbags in your life!