boots

There was this man who worked along with me named Wilson. Wilson is from Kerala. And everyday he brought in a lovely lunch that had greens and fish and rice. I was always jealous that he was born and raised in a place where people were taught from birth to eat balanced meals and new how to do it with flavour and love.

Wilson talks with his hands in a way that is uniquely S. Asian and Wilson knew how to get along with people of different backgrounds in a manner that was both elegant and strong. I really liked Wilson. I always called him “Vilson” because where he is from, W and V are the same letter.

by Laura
Grade 13

So, today, September 6, 2005 during my lunch hour, I hopped into my 1998 Gold Saturn Station Wagon and drove to Capitol Hill on a mission to meet the famed Robots. This proved to be a rewarding yet difficult task. Oddly enough, finding parking was really easy.

I parked in a 1 hour spot across the street from Cafe Vita assuming that if nothing else I could ask the employees of Vita how to find the Robot Coop office. I mean who DOESN’T know Dan Spils, right?

So, I walk into Vita, tell them what I am looking for and I get a full on Seattle blank response. “Um, I dunno. I should, but I dunno know.” I took this as a challenge and began marching my little self up and down Pike looking in building address listings for something, anything that resembled Robot. But to no avail. But something in me told me to soldier on even though sweat was collecting on my upper lip and my stomach was grumbling (lunch hour, right?)

So, anyway, the moment of truth came when I was standing in the lobby of the Robot Coop office building (one 1/2 block EAST of Vita) and who should waltz in but all of the Robots. Dan introduced me to everyone and then I went upstairs, got the tour and chatted with Ivan about Denial of Service Attacks and layer 7 rules and not entirely answering Ivan’s questions.

IT WAS AWESOME!

If you ever want to do something cool that you can brag about to your friends, go to the Robot Coop Office.

Oh, and Dan Spils? He likes to hug. It’s worth it just for the hugging. I kinda went there for hugs and although none of the other Robots touched me, Dan did. He is bold that way, though.