Riding a Bike
Went to a surprise birthday party last weekend for a college friend. Well, actually we met in High School, and like most high school friendships it died right after he graduated. We ended up at the same community college trying to figure out what we were interested in and that is when we started to form a bond. A bond that has lasted for the last 20 years; admittedly through less frequent contact over the past 10.
The interesting thing with this friendship is the club we formed at this community college called "lounge". An interesting name, but really not that clever given that is where we hung out. It wasn't anything formal by any stretch of the imagination. Just a group of friends that met from semester to semester and decided to spend free time together. On some days this lasted from 7am until 7pm. Interesting since most of us didn't have classes before 9am, and got out by 4pm.
It is hard to describe what "lounge" was like, but I do know it had a profound impact on who I am today. More so than the 19 years of my life before it. It was a place where everyone was equal. All ideas were worthy of discussion, and anyone was welcome. We talked about our futures, our past, poetry, books, music, movies, and even what would happen if the government facility next door accidently released some kind of pathogen. Which by they way I am certain happened. Sheep in fields just don't multiple, disappear, and then multiply like that without some kind of unnatural intervention.
One of my favorite pastimes was referred to as "talk about a subject". A simple game, but one that exercised your mind as you did mental acrobatics. A person in "lounge" was selected as the speaker (usually when they weren't there), and someone else would yell out a topic (such as why do slugs dissolve when engulfed in salt). So, when I walked into lounge after class one day I was hit with this topic and told to defend and/or discuss my thoughts on this issue. Quickly I came up with some stupid story that slugs don't actually dissolve, they simple bury themselves because they think it is snowing. Dumb, I know, but entertaining for all involved none the less. If nothing else my anxiety of speaking in public was dissolved in "lounge".
By the time our tenure ended at this community college (which took longer than it should have), we had professors stopping in each morning to read the thought or poem posted on the blackboards for the day. We all took turns, and they were all brilliant.
Fortunately, several of us ended up at the same 4 year institution to finish out our degrees. A new social group was quickly formed call Beta Phi Delta (or BFD for short). This was our way of snubbing our noses at the fraternities and sororities of the university. Not that we didn't think they were valuable in their own way, but the whole idea of a "closed" club and hell week didn't fly with us. Anyone was welcome to join BFD; male or female, any race, any religion, or any background. It got to the point where we were mostly made up of members that belonged to other frats and sororities. Of course, that had to be kept a secret in fear of loosing their status. To really dig in the idea of a free social club we even had t-shirts, hats, and sweaters done with Greek letters. That got under everyone's skin and made us feel even better. By the time I graduated, there were BFD franchises in 2 other neighboring universities.
For the most part I haven't seen the majority of these individuals since graduation about 15 years ago. This is where the b-day party I mentioned earlier comes in. We had a blast! We talked about old times, shared stories of wives, kids, jobs, trials and tribulations. We all knew exactly how to talk with each other like we were together yesterday. It was just like riding a bike.
The interesting thing with this friendship is the club we formed at this community college called "lounge". An interesting name, but really not that clever given that is where we hung out. It wasn't anything formal by any stretch of the imagination. Just a group of friends that met from semester to semester and decided to spend free time together. On some days this lasted from 7am until 7pm. Interesting since most of us didn't have classes before 9am, and got out by 4pm.
It is hard to describe what "lounge" was like, but I do know it had a profound impact on who I am today. More so than the 19 years of my life before it. It was a place where everyone was equal. All ideas were worthy of discussion, and anyone was welcome. We talked about our futures, our past, poetry, books, music, movies, and even what would happen if the government facility next door accidently released some kind of pathogen. Which by they way I am certain happened. Sheep in fields just don't multiple, disappear, and then multiply like that without some kind of unnatural intervention.
One of my favorite pastimes was referred to as "talk about a subject". A simple game, but one that exercised your mind as you did mental acrobatics. A person in "lounge" was selected as the speaker (usually when they weren't there), and someone else would yell out a topic (such as why do slugs dissolve when engulfed in salt). So, when I walked into lounge after class one day I was hit with this topic and told to defend and/or discuss my thoughts on this issue. Quickly I came up with some stupid story that slugs don't actually dissolve, they simple bury themselves because they think it is snowing. Dumb, I know, but entertaining for all involved none the less. If nothing else my anxiety of speaking in public was dissolved in "lounge".
By the time our tenure ended at this community college (which took longer than it should have), we had professors stopping in each morning to read the thought or poem posted on the blackboards for the day. We all took turns, and they were all brilliant.
Fortunately, several of us ended up at the same 4 year institution to finish out our degrees. A new social group was quickly formed call Beta Phi Delta (or BFD for short). This was our way of snubbing our noses at the fraternities and sororities of the university. Not that we didn't think they were valuable in their own way, but the whole idea of a "closed" club and hell week didn't fly with us. Anyone was welcome to join BFD; male or female, any race, any religion, or any background. It got to the point where we were mostly made up of members that belonged to other frats and sororities. Of course, that had to be kept a secret in fear of loosing their status. To really dig in the idea of a free social club we even had t-shirts, hats, and sweaters done with Greek letters. That got under everyone's skin and made us feel even better. By the time I graduated, there were BFD franchises in 2 other neighboring universities.
For the most part I haven't seen the majority of these individuals since graduation about 15 years ago. This is where the b-day party I mentioned earlier comes in. We had a blast! We talked about old times, shared stories of wives, kids, jobs, trials and tribulations. We all knew exactly how to talk with each other like we were together yesterday. It was just like riding a bike.
posted by z-kaz | 8:58 AM
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