I used to have a thing about not liking odd numbers, but I think I am gradually getting over that.
I was born in an even year, most of my graduations occurred in even years, I got married in an even year...... I think you get the picture.
It wasn't until I met my friend Chris that I started to think more favorably about odds. I mean, I had friends in school that were one year older or younger than me, but one day Chris made a funny statement that I HAD to follow up with more questions.
We were at some work meeting, and she was chatting away with some CAPT that she had just met, and they really were hitting it off; in that electric way where you can almost complete the other person's sentences, and they laugh at most of your "new person" jokes. [A "new person" joke in my book is one that you can tell someone you just met, without much fear of offending them.]
I didn't really interact much with this CAPT during the meeting, but at lunch Chris mentioned, "I could tell that he was an 'odd year' before I even asked him!" When pressed for more information, she explained that at the USCG Academy the odds and evens have a strong affinity for one another.
I guess it is similar to my all girls Catholic high school experience, where each member of the new freshman class get a junior to look out for them. OK, there is some hazing involved, but nothing too serious. The nuns make sure of that........
I think that the hazing Chris went through was a bit more significant, and it was coming from the 'evens' who had been there one year longer than she had. The second class 'odds' were the ones making sure that the 'evens' didn't get out of hand with the new fourth class cadets.
She went on to explain things I can't even remember the specifics of, but it was something along the lines of, "You can always tell an 'even' by their {add desired characteristic here}." I started to think back on all the Academy grads I had run across during my career, and if I knew what year they were commissioned, I tried to decide if they fit the picture Chris was painting.
Sometimes it made sense, and other times it didn't.
It reminded me of the reversible polyester pinnies that we wore during soccer or field hockey scrimmages in college. They were not as nice as those pictured below, but they allowed us to easily switch teams so the coach could try out new combinations of players together.
Ours were gold on one side, greyish on the other, so the common chant was, "Gold is great! Grey is gross!" Luckily both those words started with G, so it was easy to switch the order around if you got moved to the 'dark' side of the force. If it was too cold to just wear the pinnies over our sports bras or t-shirts, we wore our sweatshirts inside out, or rightside out, as the case may be.
I cannot remember what the chant was for sweatshirt weather. Maybe it was, "Gray is great! White is weak!"
[interesting change in spelling I made of the colour in that last quote, as the President of the University was Dr. Gray during my time there. I wonder if she was ever passing by Stagg Field and heard us chanting?????? Did she think we were talking about her?]
But, as usual, I digress. The point of this blog is that a leopard can change its spots more easily than you would imagine, and even an 'even' like me can finally make piece with the 'odds'!
I was born in an even year, most of my graduations occurred in even years, I got married in an even year...... I think you get the picture.
It wasn't until I met my friend Chris that I started to think more favorably about odds. I mean, I had friends in school that were one year older or younger than me, but one day Chris made a funny statement that I HAD to follow up with more questions.
We were at some work meeting, and she was chatting away with some CAPT that she had just met, and they really were hitting it off; in that electric way where you can almost complete the other person's sentences, and they laugh at most of your "new person" jokes. [A "new person" joke in my book is one that you can tell someone you just met, without much fear of offending them.]
I didn't really interact much with this CAPT during the meeting, but at lunch Chris mentioned, "I could tell that he was an 'odd year' before I even asked him!" When pressed for more information, she explained that at the USCG Academy the odds and evens have a strong affinity for one another.
I guess it is similar to my all girls Catholic high school experience, where each member of the new freshman class get a junior to look out for them. OK, there is some hazing involved, but nothing too serious. The nuns make sure of that........
I think that the hazing Chris went through was a bit more significant, and it was coming from the 'evens' who had been there one year longer than she had. The second class 'odds' were the ones making sure that the 'evens' didn't get out of hand with the new fourth class cadets.
She went on to explain things I can't even remember the specifics of, but it was something along the lines of, "You can always tell an 'even' by their {add desired characteristic here}." I started to think back on all the Academy grads I had run across during my career, and if I knew what year they were commissioned, I tried to decide if they fit the picture Chris was painting.
Sometimes it made sense, and other times it didn't.
It reminded me of the reversible polyester pinnies that we wore during soccer or field hockey scrimmages in college. They were not as nice as those pictured below, but they allowed us to easily switch teams so the coach could try out new combinations of players together.
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| [borrowed from http://bceagles.cbscollegestore.com/store/Vendor396/fullscale/rsz_bc_league_womens_pinnie-c.jpg] |
I cannot remember what the chant was for sweatshirt weather. Maybe it was, "Gray is great! White is weak!"
[interesting change in spelling I made of the colour in that last quote, as the President of the University was Dr. Gray during my time there. I wonder if she was ever passing by Stagg Field and heard us chanting?????? Did she think we were talking about her?]
But, as usual, I digress. The point of this blog is that a leopard can change its spots more easily than you would imagine, and even an 'even' like me can finally make piece with the 'odds'!
