I'm not a fan of Cinco de Mayo. I'm not sure what is being celebrated, and I don't like mariachi bands; mariachi music sounds like Polish music, which, coincidentally, I don't like, either. The only redeeming factor is the food.
For the past nine years, Cinco de Mayo has also conjured up a college memory from freshman year. On certain days of the week, I would eat lunch with my friend Sherrie, fellow teacher ed major and later roommate at aptartment 29. On this day, we were eating Mexican food in the caf,serenaded tortured by the sounds of a mariachi band. The band had been hired for the Cinco de Mayo themed lunch, which was actually happening on Tres de Mayo (I think our school was trying to save money by having the band come on a different day).
Sherrie and I were talking about our P.E. for Teachers class or finals week or something like that, when our attention was arrested by Caleb*, an upperclassman. He appeared next to me holding a glass vase with a Gerber daisy (decorations for the lunch), and as he looked at me he said, "I just wanted to let you know, the beauty of this flower is nothing compared to you." Caleb set the vase and flower on the table, I said a very pinched thank you, and he walked back to his table.
Awk-ward.
Awkward.
So awkward.
Sherrie and I now had something new to talk about. What did he mean? Was he serious? Was I supposed to take the flower with me?!
I was bothered by this interaction for several days. I saw Caleb around campus, but he never said anything. Once I saw him walking along, throwing a football with some friends, and I decided just to ask him what the Cinco de Mayo flower had been about. He said that it was dare from his friends.
Okay, not as nice as a sincere compliment, but at least I didn't have to be paranoid any more, and I was very glad I hadn't taken the daisy with me! I was glad that our paths rarely crossed after that.
------
I was a sophomore in Israel when Cinco de Mayo came around again. While there, I heard that one of the girls from my freshman wing was dating the same Caleb. "Weird! Remember what happened on Cinco de Mayo last year, when..." I told Michelle, who had also been on my wing that year and had heard the story.
Sara and Caleb have been happily married for several years now, and I am stuck with an awkward memory from when I was an eighteen-year-old freshman.
Happy Cinco de Mayo! At least I have a funny story, even if I don't like the holiday. :)
(Yes, his name really was Caleb; if you do something dumb, you forfeit your name change, haha!)
For the past nine years, Cinco de Mayo has also conjured up a college memory from freshman year. On certain days of the week, I would eat lunch with my friend Sherrie, fellow teacher ed major and later roommate at aptartment 29. On this day, we were eating Mexican food in the caf,
Sherrie and I were talking about our P.E. for Teachers class or finals week or something like that, when our attention was arrested by Caleb*, an upperclassman. He appeared next to me holding a glass vase with a Gerber daisy (decorations for the lunch), and as he looked at me he said, "I just wanted to let you know, the beauty of this flower is nothing compared to you." Caleb set the vase and flower on the table, I said a very pinched thank you, and he walked back to his table.
Awk-ward.
Awkward.
So awkward.
Sherrie and I now had something new to talk about. What did he mean? Was he serious? Was I supposed to take the flower with me?!
I was bothered by this interaction for several days. I saw Caleb around campus, but he never said anything. Once I saw him walking along, throwing a football with some friends, and I decided just to ask him what the Cinco de Mayo flower had been about. He said that it was dare from his friends.
Okay, not as nice as a sincere compliment, but at least I didn't have to be paranoid any more, and I was very glad I hadn't taken the daisy with me! I was glad that our paths rarely crossed after that.
------
I was a sophomore in Israel when Cinco de Mayo came around again. While there, I heard that one of the girls from my freshman wing was dating the same Caleb. "Weird! Remember what happened on Cinco de Mayo last year, when..." I told Michelle, who had also been on my wing that year and had heard the story.
Sara and Caleb have been happily married for several years now, and I am stuck with an awkward memory from when I was an eighteen-year-old freshman.
Happy Cinco de Mayo! At least I have a funny story, even if I don't like the holiday. :)
(Yes, his name really was Caleb; if you do something dumb, you forfeit your name change, haha!)
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