Another Year

On my way to teach today, I walked through seas of incoming freshmen involved in some kind of extended orientation that requires them to do summer-camp like activities. Most of them were doing what we used to call the "Boogaloo," but they were calling the "Gigolo." It goes like this: "Hey [Name]!" "Hey what?" "Can you do it?" "Do what?" "The Boogaloo!" "I'll try!" "My hands up high, my feet down low, that's the way I want to go... Boogaloo! Boo Boo Galoo!" Etc. It was very odd to see cynical UCI student types in their mini skirts and Ugg boots doing this in their cynical yet obedient way.

Anyway, I walked past one group that hadn't gotten started yet whose leader (a current UCI student) was giving a little talk about how to succeed in college. She said "Just kiss a lot of ass, professors LOVE that," and as she said it, she caught my eye. Suddenly, she and everyone else thought she was in trouble--she actually put both hands over her mouth in a posture of having made a bad faux-pas. And I thought, this is the way to celebrate turning a year older: now I can finally strike the fear of authority into the younguns just by walking through the park.