This happened a couple of weeks ago, and is a copy/paste from an email I sent to people. ..... Because it's now on facebook, I thought I should tell the whole story (please note: for those not on facebook, you're not missing anything except falling into an abyss of procrastination. Which is perfect if you're studying for your final exam which is now officially in 9 hours and 46 minutes' time).
Speaking of said exam, I took my study notes along with me tonight - I had to attend a debriefing workshop for women who have experienced traumatic births as part of my portfolio (which is our final piece of assessment, completely self directed, on an area of personal interest). Because this session was being held the night before my exam, I thought I'd cram in what little study time I could into the time spent waiting for the session to begin.
I arrived a good hour early, and realised I was a bit peckish. Knowing the session was due to finish at 10pm, I thought I'd be best to eat then, rather than later. Found a great Indian resturant a few streets away, and sat down somewhat conspicuously by myself in the corner with my notes while I waited for my butter chicken to arrive.
I started revising, completely absorbed in the definitions, signs, symptoms, treatment etc etc of various conditions in pregnancy, when suddenly I realised the table I was sitting at was a little brighter than it had been moments before.
I tore my eyes upwards from the notes, and saw that the top half of my lecture notes were in fact, resting over a naked flame of my intimate candlelit dinner for one... and now were the fuel for said not-so-intimate-bonfire dinner for the whole resturant, who watched in morbid fascination as the paper fell to pieces, still on fire, onto the table cloth and set the tablecloth on fire, too.
So, there I was, trying not to look like too much of a loser with no friends to eat dinner with, at a table all to myself amongst couples and friends... and instead drew everyone's attention to the fact that not only was I all alone, but there was probably a very good reason for me HAVING no one to share my dinner with.
Luckily, the foresight of the waitress had meant she had already provided me with a pitcher of cold, refershing water to drink... which did wonders for the flames that were licking at the curtains (ok, so that's a bit of an exaggeration.... why I'd need to exaggerate when I've already admitted to setting my notes AND the tablecloth on fire in front of a busy resturant, I have no idea).
Moral to the story? 1) don't eat alone 2) don't study at a table with a candle 3) always make sure you ask for some water with your meal JUST IN CASE.
Right. 9 hours and 37 minutes till my exam. Pity I don't have any study notes to revise anymore.
