The end of the quarter was approaching and my final program still needed to be written. So I asked the T.A. what the chances were that the key to the computer room would fall out of his pocket. He said they might, but that if I got caught I would have to say I stole them. That's fair. So I enlisted a classmate and at midnight we crossed Northrop Mall and proceeded to the building where the computer lab was housed. Lo and behold, the lights of the computer lab were on! Someone was inside doing a little wee-hour programming of their own. So I knocked. A guy cracked the door open, told us we couldn't come in, and shut it. Talk about an opportunity to make new friends totally shot to hell! Actually, it really angered me. We are all supposed to be in this together. Another T.A. had given these three guys the key; we caught them: they should have opened up.

As it was, I opened the door with my key and gave them the dirtiest look I could muster. I didn't get my assignment done anyway, so working that night didn't improve my grade. The best grades were earned by a girl and her friends whose dad had this very same software at his work. In the mid-eighties, I guess you had to be creative to get those A's.