January 2, 2008

Happy New Year

I live in a college town, fifty thousand students and fifty thousand plain old town residents right next to each other. One of the odder aspects of this situation is how the town completely changes gears over winter and summer breaks.

In most places, New Year's Eve is one of the most happening times of the year. Here however, it feels a ghost town. Everything is closed and almost no one is out. A typical Thursday when school is in session has ten times the number of people walking around. This year there were a few isolated pockets of no coats* on the streets but only a token amount.

While I was going out for some pizza, I did see a hilarious no coat scene. Two drunken swaying short skirted girls standing in a half foot of snow by the side of the road. They were holding on to each other (presumably for balance) and they had such a look of bewilderment on their faces that I had to imaging that they were completely surprised as to how they came to be standing in a snow drift without any pants.

Maybe, I'm wrong to find that amusing. Maybe, that's just where the aliens dropped them off, or where the teleportation/time traveling device happened to put them. You know you've got to look your foxiest when being abducted, teleporting or time traveling.

UPDATE
I just remembered that there's more to the no coat New Year's Eve story. After driving by the lost snow drift girls, I wandered around a bit looking for a pizza place that was open. None of them were so I pulled into a Subway for a sandwich. As I'm pulling in, I spotted two guys walking on the sidewalk, one of them carrying an empty keg. Just as I noted to myself that one guy was wearing sandals, the guy with the keg slips on the ice and the keg bounces on the pavement right onto the sandaled guy's foot and ankle. He screams in pain then turns the scream into a forced laugh while his friend is picking himself up. Even though the keg was clearly empty, I was a little worried that he might have broken his foot but he just kept up his laugh/screaming, rubbed his foot and hobbled on down the street.

On my way out from Subway, I saw them walking back and that guy was only barely limping. As well that ends well I guess.

----
*No coats are what S and I call the girls that brave the rain, snow, sleet and freezing cold to go from club/bar to club/bar without any clothing designed to shield their skinny little arms from the weather. Typically seen lined up outside of popular club/bars in the dead of winter.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Athens is the same way. But the "no coat" phenomenon is a little less severe here since it doesn't usually get as cold and almost never snows. Also, guys here are frequently "no coats" as well. There is a firm belief that shorts and flip-flops can be worn 365 days of the year. And that showing up to class in, essentially, pajamas is entirely appropriate.

the unbeatable kid said...

sweat pants have somehow become high college fashion.

i'm also caught out grandmaing the youngsters at my work about wearing sandals in the winter.