⊰ Wasp in My Pencil Box ⊱

I was studying for BA in life science (Biology) at Tel-Aviv University.
Strikes were a thing, sometimes, the professors went on strike, sometimes it was us, the students.

This story took place during the strike of the  administrative staff. Because of that, the lectures were still held only not in the locked classroom, instead we gathered on the grassy plane beside the building.

One of the courses I took was The Faunistics of insects. I signed up because my friend M. pointed out to me the course description: ”bring a notebook for drawing.” I was sold.

As part of the course we went on a few field trips around the country to catch insects. Each of us had a wooden box with a glass lid for his own collection (let’s not get into the ethics of killing insects for science right now).

It was before a class, when I spotted a shiny flying bug in the bushes and caught it in my wooden pencil box (that I made). I was on my way to the professor to identify it, certain I had discovered a new species, and that it would be named after me.

On the way, a student stopped me and asked “Do you know where the next lecture will take place?”
Anyone who knows me even a little, knows I'm the last person to know where something takes place, even when there isn’t a strike.

I told her “I can’t help you right now - there’s a wasp in my pencil box״ (it’s way shorter in Hebrew = Tziraaha Bakalmar) and proceeded to the professor's room where he told me that was a very common hornet.

A few days later, after the study hours were over, I happened to walk by the same student when someone tried to ask her for something. I overheard her reply “I’m in a hurry to catch the bus, there’s a wasp in my pencil box” . It took me a minute but then I realized - she wasn’t born in Israel and apparently she thought it was a figure of speech to express the urgent-ness of a situation. Something people say on a daily basis, like I believe they should.

That’s MY bug collection