blueswede

The Nine Faces of Dave
2002-05-19 08:45:14 (UTC)

in 'Nam, we had a name for guys like him

So we had the choir concert on Thursday, and it went much
better than any of us expected. I performed my solo, and
received many positive comments, so I guess maybe I have a
better voice than I originally thought.

At any rate, we're basically through for the year in swing
choir, and now we have time to goof off and play cards. Of
course, playing cards would be a lot more fun if the people
in there ever wanted to play something other than B.S., but
there's not much else you can play with seven people and one
deck. I have a feeling I should bring something to read.

I'm almost through with everything that I need to do. This
weekend I'm polishing off my last newspaper article, my set
of graduation announcements to send out, and with any luck,
some of my paperwork for college next fall. I have to make
a speech on the 29th, but it shouldn't be too hard to come
up with something good to say.

Aside from that, I need to mow the lawn again and keep job
hunting. I got an interview at the local Blockbuster Video,
but there's quite a bit of competition. I also applied for
a circulation clerk post at the library, which pays $8.02 an
hour. It would be sweet to get that job. But I've applied
all over the place, so something should come up.

I found out Friday that I actually did have something to do
in yearbook for the insert: I need to write some copy for a
spread on the musical. It would have been nice if someone
had thought to tell me this, instead of letting me sit in
the back room doing crossword puzzles for three weeks. We
didn't get to see the Multi-Cultural Society talent show due
to the impending insert deadline. I guess it's no big loss;
aside from a few acts, the show has never been very good.

So Friday in swing choir, to celebrate the end of the whole
mess, we ordered some pizzas and chilled out. Should have
been fantastic, except two things cast a dark cloud on it.

First, I socialized very little and spent the entire period
doing my calculus homework. Granted, it was a productive
use of my time, but it wasn't that much fun. I would have
played cards, except I've grown to hate B.S. Kind of makes
me wonder if these people know any real card games.

The second thing was a little more ominous. A classmate of
mine was hanging out in the choir room, practicing with his
guitar for the talent show that afternoon. Now he's pretty
good, and as a fellow guitarist I admire his talent, but he
and I take totally different approaches to the guitar, both
in how we learn stuff and what we want to do. He does more
pop/rock stuff, and seems content with that, while I would
rather learn classical or jazz guitar.

At any rate, a bunch of the girls in swing choir just fawn
over him. It's disgusting to see, especially when they all
know that he has a girlfriend, even if she lives in Colorado
or someplace. Getting back to my original point, they go to
ridiculous lengths for this guy, going so far as to mistreat
other people in favor of this guy.

Friday, for instance, a couple of the tenors were jamming on
the piano and singing, but these girls wanted to hear guitar
boy play something. So, what did they do? Electing to skip
the "ask politely" phase, they told these other guys to be
quiet, and even said that they should maybe go into one of
the practice rooms. Now I ask you, why couldn't the lot of
them just go into a practice room? You can pack nine people
in one of those easily.

This is how far out of hand the whole thing is. A fellow
bass and I have begun calling the more level-headed girls
the "Not Infatuated With (name) Club."

So the question is, why? Because he's a guitarist? I play
the guitar, and don't receive any fawning admiration. Now
mine is an electric, so I don't carry it around with me, but
people know that I play. Is it some sort of "girls dig guys
who are musicians" thing? I played the cello for more than
seven years, and that never did my social life a damn bit of
good. Because he's a good player? My friend Nate is three
orders of magnitude better than this guy, and he didn't get
that sort of treatment. And Nate is damn good; he played at
the talent show one year and played his electric and one of
those electric piano keyboards at the same time.

No, the only explanation that seems to work is that he's a
pretty boy, and these girls like him for that. Do the other
factors contribute? Sure. But he'd be nothing to them if
they didn't find him attractive.

And so we see once again that for men just as much as women,
looks are the biggest factor in how the opposite sex reacts
to your presence. Thanks, high school choir girls, for once
again reminding me that I am about as welcome in your world
as a turd in the punchbowl.

I need a wider variety of things to be bitter about.

This is Dave, signing off.




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