"Should I stack these on the back shelf?" a maintenance guy inquired of the librarian as he wheeled in several cases of paper on a hand truck.
"Yes please," she answered.
I was sitting in the library monitoring the few kids who had attended after school study hall when I happened to overhear their exchange.
"Have you ever seen what paper does under a hydraulic press?" he asked her.
"I can't say that I have," she responded.
"It explodes!" he told her.
"I would not have predicted that," she replied.
"There must be something in it that reacts with the pressure," he explained. "But you should look it up! There's a whole YouTube Hydraulic Press Channel."
She might not have been impressed, but I opened a tab on my browser and typed a search right away. The first video I clicked on was a one hour compilation of greatest smushes. Paper does indeed explode, whether in reams, or books, decks of cards, or even toilet paper.
The other results were not always predictable: although many items were smashed, only a few were pulverized, and most were extruded through the vent holes at the top of the press plate. The sponges? Were merely flattened, and they sprang back as soon as the pressure was lifted.
What was left of the hour passed quickly; there was something surprisingly mesmerizing about watching a random assortment of things subjected to about 10,000 pounds of force. And although I did not like or subscribe, I was definitely impressed by the press.
Life Lesson: Pressure is unavoidable, stress is optional.
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