While on my afternoon run through campus today, I saw something that gave me a subject for my first post-an unexplained, random sighting of weirdness that is so common to college campuses. I'll get to what exactly it was in a minute, but first, a little background. At my undergrad alma mater, the University of Michigan, there was plenty of random weirdness on campus. Possibly the best known example is Bra Guy. His normal attire was a pair of men's jeans, no shirt, colorful bra (red seemed to be a favorite) and a pack of cigarettes conveniently stuck under the bra strap. His apparent occupation was to strut his stuff around campus, giving people something to talk about. My sister and I once saw him riding a bike in a neglige (also red). Then there was the Diag Screamer. I assume this guy was a student, since I saw him frequently and he was wearing a backpack, but his claim to fame was listening to music with his headphones and then screaming the lyrics at an incredible volume, causing everyone around him to give him plenty of space. Whenever I spotted him, he was on the Diag, hence the moniker. Also frequently on the Diag were a variety of Diag Preachers who shouted such encouraging thoughts to passersby as "You're going to hell!" Hardly the most effective method for saving souls. This usually ended in a screaming match between the Diag Preacher and a bunch of angry students. Another good example of campus weirdness is Hash Bash. Hash Bash is basically an excuse for all the pot smokers on campus and in Ann Arbor to congregate on the Diag and surrounding areas under an illegal haze and somehow still manage to not get arrested. I could go on some more about random weirdness at U of M, like the 6 foot tall vagina constructed on the Diag to advertise the play The Vagina Monologues (people were encouraged to walk through it) or the guy who plays the harmonica and the washboard by the UgLi (undergraduate library) who looks homeless but is really a professor, but let's move on to the recent random weirdness I've seen on the campus of my graduate alma mater and current place of employment, the College of William & Mary.
Here's the random weirdness tally in the past few weeks for W&M:
1. About a month ago, I was chased by bees while running. Not weird nor entirely random, you say? Well, these "bees" were actually 20 or so female students with paper wings on their backs, running in a pack and making buzzing sounds. Okay. Well at first, we were running towards each other and after I registered what was coming towards me, I looked for a way around them. They had other plans, however. As I approached, they split ranks and I passed through the middle of the buzzing crowd. I looked back because, really you don't see this every day, and I saw them change direction. Then they chased me. Buzzing. And I, being fleet of foot (ahem) picked up speed until they got tired and went to freak out someone else. I still have no idea what they were doing.
2. Last week, while walking to a meeting, I passed a girl carrying a large, clear plastic container with two baby pigs inside. My head whipped around and I'll admit it, I stared. Yup, confirmed, she was carrying two live baby pigs. Weird, I thought, but I had to make it to my meeting so I didn't have time to satisfy my curiousity. On my way back to my office from the meeting, I passed another student, this time leading a llama. Apparently there was an impromptu (as impromptu as it can be while still managing to acquire farm animals) petting zoo on campus. Sweet! Again, no idea what they were doing.
3. Today while running, I saw the random weirdness that caused me to write this, my inaugural post: three students, standing on the corner of Jamestown and Richmond Roads, dressed head to toe in bright yellow banana suits. 'Nuff said.
This post is dedicated to those crazy kids in banana suits. I love working on a college campus! And no, I have no idea what they were doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment