Murphy's Law

I am a contributing member of society - I have a job.

(Ok, so I just ref intramural soccer games for UF. BUT I do get paid and it's pretty fun, gosh darn it!)

Playoffs began a couple of weeks ago, and, to ensure all refs got an equal opportunity to be evaluated, each ref only received one shift out of the first two weeks. Fine, I totally understand. I got one 2-hour shift last week and I figured it would be my last week reffing this semester. I figured they would leave the rest of playoff reffing to the more experienced guys. Cool, whatever. It was fun while it lasted.

To my utter surprise, I received an email last Thursday saying "Congratulations, you made the cut!" Attached to the email was my work schedule for this week. Of course, I was thrilled - MORE MONEY!!! I scrolled through the schedule to find my name. And there it was.

TUESDAY MARCH 31, 2009. I had a glorious 4-hour shift from 6-10pm as a sideline ref for 4 co-recreational games. These, my friends, are gold. Co-rec games are coveted as being the easiest to ref for several reasons.

1. It's slow-paced. Easy to follow, easy to ref.
2. It's a recreational division so the players don't get too caught up in the game. It's all for funnsies.
3. It's slow.
4. It's slow.
5. It's slow.

I was stoked. I get out my blue pen to mark it on my lovely wall calendar. I search for the date - Tuesday March 31 6-10...

In giant letters I see:

STA EXAM 8:20-10:20 PM

Crap. I can't ref. Alright, I'll just send out an email to the dozens of other refs available to work that week and someone will pick up my shift. Better luck next time.

That night I sent out an email in which I explain my situation, my shift, and my contact information. I sign off for the night knowing that there will be a message in my inbox the next morning from some lucky soul who just scored the jackpot of all ref shifts.

I awake Friday morning and check my inbox. Nothing. I check again Friday afternoon. Still nothing. No big deal, I tell myself. Maybe some people just haven't gotten around to checking. I'll send it again so it's right there at the top, waiting for them.

Saturday rolls around. Still no word. I resend my email. Sunday comes and goes. Another email is sent out. Monday creeps up on me. My emails reflect my desperation. I thought the whole I-have-an-exam-that-counts-as-30%-of-my-grade thing would get me some sympathy at least. By Monday, I've offered up monetary bonuses, a free lunch, and even my lifelong, undying friendship. Nada.

So, that leaves me here on this lovely Tuesday afternoon on the 31st of March. My shift begins in less than an hour. My UF email has decided to celebrate April Fool's a day early by blocking my email since 2 o'clock this afternoon so I can't check for replies. The ref supervisor, who I would usually call to explain my sitch, is out of town and not answering his phone.

However, he did leave his replacement's phone number in case something like this happened. In an email. That is currently being kept under lock and key by UF webmail.

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."