Another reaction I got to this page was “why is Louis upset about summer homework? Geez, I thought this kid was, you know, a NERD.” Well, when you’re kind of racked with guilt about somehow magically messing up a museum exhibit, I think your mind is preoccupied. Besides, hearing the prompt for the essay relaxes him – you know, like it does.

I don’t know if this is an American thing, but whenever we went on field trips, we’d have some sort of lunch voucher or card that we had to use. This would usually be good for collecting something to eat at the museum cafeteria or correspond to a bagged lunch we had back in the bus. Either way, they had to feed us, so we all had to make sure we kept the lunch cards in our pockets until it was time to eat. This was often a very exciting moment in the field trip, because eating at the museum was always a big delight. Or maybe that’s something I uniquely enjoyed, but I still have really fond memories of it. AH, the break in routine!