Say Hello, My Little Friend

Diary Entry: 15 May, 2025

The dead time in law school, between the morning lecture and the afternoon one, is a special kind of purgatory. I was doing my usual aimless wandering through the corridors and found myself in the basement, where the lockers live. Tucked away at the very end of everything, right next to a public computer lab, is the JSD room.

The school, in its infinite wisdom, has devised a brilliant solution with this room. On one hand, it gives its prized international doctoral students a dedicated space to study, which keeps up appearances. On the other, it’s hidden away so remotely that the domestic students don’t have to witness the favorable treatment the “foreigners” receive and get jealous. It’s a masterful piece of social engineering, really.

After all, we foreigners are the ones who keep this school, and arguably the entire city, financially afloat. The local economy runs on a curious fuel: exorbitant tuition fees paid by students from China, Europe, and elsewhere. We flock to this abandoned, post-apocalyptic town, navigating its charming population of homeless zombies, all to purchase a piece of paper that promises us a future. And yet, you get the distinct impression our presence is merely tolerated.

I’d just finished a call with an old friend back in Tbilisi, hashing out a potential business plan involving outdoor advertising. I went back to the computer lab to grab my bag, sat down, and started prepping for my next class. I hadn’t noticed, but on the other side of a partition of desks and monitors, a small nest of two or three American students was sitting in silence.

Just then, an Iranian student I know walked down the aisle toward the JSD room. He didn’t spot me, but he saw the Americans and, being a civilized person, said a simple “hello.” One of the Americans returned the greeting. I recognized the guy — we’d had a class together where, as a minor footnote to the semester, I had academically dismantled him in the final exam. A story for another time, perhaps.

The Iranian student disappeared into the JSD room. The moment the door clicked shut, the same American who’d just said hello muttered, just loud enough for his friends, “Yeah, you go fuck yourself.” The others chuckled, as though he had just uttered something of devastating wit.

You really have to admire the local charm. What a tarnished jewel in the commonwealth’s crown.