V.U. 25th Reunion--The Double Secret Probation Edition

"We spend four years together, then we spend only a few hours together every five years." That's the rap on reunions (of all kinds) I got from a friend recently. Purely from a time perspective, it's tough to refute that statement. I've never actually calculated the hours and minutes we spent during our four-year sojourn as members of the Class of '83, but such could be very easily computed. By comparison with the time we'll have available to us during a Reunion weekend to reconnect, the latter does seem a little shabby. For those of us with children (some in or rapidly approaching college themselves), for those of us with busy work schedules, and for all of us now facing the ever-increasing expenses and hassles of travel: what's the reward? Where's the payoff?

I'm betting the payoff for me will be the smile of recognition on an old friend's or acquaintance's face when I see them on that certain Friday in late October. Worse, I'm afraid the payoff for someone else may be reminding me of the time I tried sneaking up on some buddies on a cold snowy day outside Sarratt Center and slid 30 feet on my butt when my feet hit the ice...or the time I tried eating spaghetti at Rand with a mouthful of Novocaine--hey, kids, don't try this at home!!-- just as a girl I was hoping to impress sat down to talk (my humiliation was complete)...or the infamous "Wild Turkey" party in Tolman Hall...or how many folks can fit into a red MG Midget (after much scientific analysis, five, in extreme discomfort and very unsafely)...or the time at a Vandy friend's wedding when my shoes exploded on the dance floor (don't ask; rest assured, it's true)...or a host of others. OK, I've outed myself on these lesser offenses. Each of us have other offenses and tales of laughter and woe for our friends to share, or for us to desperately hide from our friends and pray to God that they don't remember through the veil of time and space.

(As an aside: I wonder if there's a statute of limitations on the offense of crawling through the steam tunnels? Is there is a Double Secret Probation codicil in the Vanderbilt charter that grants the Chancellor unlimited privilege in time of campus emergency? I sure hope not for, if so, then Dean Potter's old office likely has a list somewhere with quite a few of our names listed on Double Secret Probation status for a VERY long time now.)

Let's see if we can conjure up some memories this October that will get us talking and laughing for years to come with each other (or if we're really sorry individuals, laughing AT each other). To paraphrase Dean Wormer of "Animal House": Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through Reunion. Or, it it??? You be the judge this fall....