Retro Rush Flashback! Board Game Edition
 

I rushed seventeen years ago, but it seems like yesterday. And while so many things have changed, there are a few that haven't. I've so enjoyed reading the stories of the young women going through recruitment today, I thought I'd share my own, complete with happily ever after.

Thanks for indulging me. My story will be told in parts and should begin...

Shortly.

Back in the year 1993, a year when many of this year’s PNM Class were either born, or hanging out in their Pack n Plays drooling, there was a young woman named Rushee McGee (name changed to protect the innocent).

She decided, at the urging of her parents, to go through Rush (because that’s what it was called) at her new, huge University located in the hills of the southland in her home state.

Here is what you need to know about Rushee. She was entering college with some credits, but was still a Freshman. Her HS GPA was in the mid 3.0s, she had lots of activities, and she was generally friendly – but she was also inclined to keeping to herself and was anxious about meeting new people. Her parents though Rush might bring her out to make friends. She was very determined to get into a very competitive major at her school, so she wanted to make sure she had good grades.

You should also know that Rushee loved playing board games, so she called each house by the name of a game. Only the houses relevant to her story are listed here, so not all houses on her campus are represented in this story.

The houses were:

Clue
Life
Scrabble
Checkers
Chess
Sorry
Pictionary
Monopoly
Risk
Boggle
Parcheesi
Battleship

Rushee hadn’t had much exposure to Greek Life. Her sister was a Scrabble at a different school, which she believed probably helped her. Her mother had not been in a sorority – she had gone to a 4 year Nursing school, which she had loved – and her classmates were as close as sisters, but this fact wasn’t going to help her during rush. Rushee knew a woman whom she admired that had been a Clue, but she also knew that the Clue house at Southland U was allegedly girls with “Old Money”.

So, with one legacy, one rec and some new clothes for the parties, Rushee moved into her dorm. There, she met her new roommate, Silly Oldschool. Silly was a quadruple legacy at the Risk house, and that’s where she seemed destined to pledge. Silly had opinions about the “good” houses and the ones that weren’t. Rushee didn’t set much store by Silly’s opinion, and decided that if she pledged a house, it wouldn’t be the same one as Silly.

What she really believed going into rush is that she would do it to meet people, and probably wouldn’t pledge anywhere. She repeated this mantra (to herself) often.

Coming soon...Round One.

This sounds good!

Indeed!!!

Oooooo!
________

I think this may be my favorite opening to a recruitment story... ever. Please continue!

Round One

There isn’t much you need to know about Round One. Rushee met her Rho Chi. She met her Rush Group. Parties were held. She wasn’t expecting the singing at each house and that startled her. Water was offered, accepted. One house bent the rules and served Clearly Canadian instead of tap water. For those of you who don't know what Clearly Canadian is, it was a popular flavored sparkly water back in the 90s. After 2 days of tap water, it was like candy. The next year, they cracked down on all houses.

Rushee tried to make a good impression, but probably came off as intense; she asked about grades and studying at a few houses, which didn’t prove to be a popular topic. Word started to spread about which the “best” houses were – and they ended up being the ones she liked least. Still, Rushee had always marched to the beat of a different drum and she didn’t worry.

There were only three houses Rushee simply didn’t like. Parcheesi, where her hostess left her standing alone for five minutes (which made Rushee feel pretty lame). Boggle, where she didn’t seem to connect with anyone. And then, Silly’s beloved Risk, where the people she talked to appeared to be scanning the room for someone more interesting to talk to.

There were several houses Rushee really enjoyed – Pictionary, Monopoly, and of course, Clue. She liked the women at Scrabble, where she was a legacy, but didn’t think it was a great fit for her.

At Battleship and at Life, Rushee really connected with her hostesses – they listened to her, answered her questions and seem glad to meet her.

After two water-logged days, Rushee ranked her choices. She had visited eighteen houses – the next round would dwindle her down to twelve.

Back in those days, you just turned in a list on a scantron (do they still use those?) numbered 1-18 and went home for the day.

Stay Tuned!

Even though they aren't Eurogames, I'm loving the theme! The story is fun (& easy to follow) so I'm game :D

I'm enjoying this too! I'm trying to figure out if I could remember enough details to make a 1984 rush story interesting.

First - thank you all for your support and for indulging me on this nostalgic post! :)

But let's get down to business, shall we?


Round Two:
On the morning of Round Two, Rushee headed to meet her Rho Chi to see what the day would bring. Her sheet came back with eight parties. Rushee thought this was pretty good.


Back in 1993, Rushee had more self-esteem than any girl really needed, so the fact that more than half the houses on campus cut her didn't even occur to her. She was just thrilled that eight houses, all ones she had ranked high, had invited her to their houses.


But Rushee's Rho Chi hadn't been trained to deal with happy, self-confident Freshman, so she came to check in with Rushee. She asked if Rushee was OK, and was surprised when Rushee said, “This is great! I don’t have to go back to any of the houses I didn’t like!”

Rho Chi’s jaw dropped and her eyebrows went up. :eek: She went off to comfort a girl with frosty blue eyeshadow and a tight perm who was devastated that she wasn’t hitting 12 parties.

Since Rushee didn't have a full schedule, she had a few hours before she had to be ready for her first party. Rushee saw this as an opportunity to rest up.

Here was Rushee’s party list:
Checkers
Chess
Sorry
Life
Pictionary
Clue
Scrabble
Monopoly

Rushee had been cut from only one house that surprised her – Battleship.
Still, her top picks – Clue, Life, Checkers and Monopoly were on the list.
Round two was skits, which was right up Rushee’s alley. Her Rho Chi had told the group to expect refreshments and lots of fun skits and singing.
She really enjoyed the Clue house again – and thought that she would be a good fit there – Old Money or no.


Checkers and Chess had really nice members and seemed to be very attentive to her.

Rushee was surprised that Scrabble had invited her back, but understood that was a courtesy to her sister as much as anything. She loved their skit, thought they were very fun, but again – didn’t see herself there. She was pretty sure they didn't see her there, either. But Scrabble was a "good" house, so Rushee just decided to be herself and let the day play out.

At the Monopoly house, Rushee saw a few girls who had graduated frrom her High School, and said hello to them. They seemed glad to see her and she really liked their skit.

The sisters of Pictionary sang and were very friendly. This wasn’t Rushee’s top choice, but she liked them a lot. They seemed friendly and accessible.

Next to Clue, Life was Rushee’s favorite house, and she was very nervous there – her hostess was friendly. Rushee ended up making a joke about serving the live goldfish they used as table decorations as dinner and the hostess looked confused. Rushee felt pretty sure they wouldn’t ask her back after that.

Sorry had a fun skit but Rushee didn’t seem to connect with anyone. She wouldn’t mind going back, but decided they weren’t at the top of her list.

She ranked Clue, Life and Monopoly at the top. Since she would lose two houses going into round three, she put Scrabble and Sorry at the bottom.

Not that it matters, but most of the houses served Coca-Cola in the little glass bottles, and Rushee really liked that. Eating a slab of cheesecake at 9AM and a bag of popcorn at 10:30 AM …not so much.
(More soon... we'll also check in on Rushee's Roommate - Silly Oldschool)

Why oh why can't we keep that confidence? I knew at 18 that I could do or be anything I wanted. Period. I guess getting smacked down by life once or twice does take its toll.

I wish I knew. If I could bottle the confidence I had back then and take a dose of it every morning... I could take on the world!

What, no Pente?

I'm loving this rush story -- great writing, great attitude. How can we bottle it up so that it's there when we are older and need it ???

The only games I ever play are Life, Monopoly, and Sorry. My husband likes Scrabble though and plays it at his parent's home. Rush is like playing a game -- you have to play to see who wins and where you end up on the board.
Play On!:)

I haven't thought of Clearly Canadian in ages!!

I officially love this thread!

I never saw the re-release, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was a failure.

This thread is fantastic! Board games make my life, especially Apples to Apples:)

I heart this thread, just as much as I hearted CC (raspberry or peach flavors) back in 8th grade. I LOVED that stuff, and can't wait to hear the rest of Rushee McGee's story!

For the record, the illicit Clearly Canadian in question was Cherry - and it was wonderful. Another house got in trouble for pink straws, but, eh.
Thanks for all your kind words - they mean a lot. And with that, I bring you:
Round Three:

Rushee was looking forward to the house tours in Round Three. She really wanted to see more of the Clue house, and she felt excited about Monopoly and Life. When she got to her Rho Chi, she was surprised to see that she had been cut from four of her eight houses: Scrabble (no shock), Sorry (no worries), Clue (DAMN!) and Monopoly (WHAT?!!?). She understood that Clue was legacy heavy, had a long tradition, and while she was sorry to see them go, she couldn’t get too worked up about it. Getting cut from Monopoly was a complete surprise. The “word on the street” was that they rarely cut anyone – they were a smaller house, more diverse in membership and said to be less selective about their invitiations.
In fact, most of her Rush Group was desperate NOT to go back to Monopoly. Rushee was disappointed, but if they didn’t want her, it was their loss.
But lest you think Rushee was angelic beyond belief, she did utter cattily, "I guess I wasn't ugly enough to be a Monopoly". In years to come, she would have friends in that house, so she is sorry for having been so mean.
At this point, she was headed back to four houses she still really liked, so again, she put on a great dress and headed out to her parties:

Pictionary
Chess
Life
Checkers


Chess – The women of Chess had a newer, more modern house close to campus. The house had a sleeping porch, which Rushee thought was weird, but what did she know? She really, really liked the girls, she thought that she might be a good fit…but.

Checkers – She loved seeing this house – similar in location and style to the Checkers house. The sisters were very friendly, and the house seemed warm and inviting. Again, she thought they were great…but.

The “but” had been weighing on Rushee since Rush began. Checkers and Chess were the two Jewish houses on her campus. She had been born to a Jewish father and a Christian mother – but neither parent had strong religious beliefs and she had been raised under the “Do Unto Others” school of Judeo-Christian ethics. This worked well for Rushee. She assumed that because of the ethnicity of her last name (which wasn't really McGee, after all) and because she didn’t wear a big gold or diamond cross, she had flown under the radar at Chess and Checkers. Her lack of religious conviction was fine with her, but would it be fine with Checkers or Chess? She saw Chess didn’t appear to have non-Jewish members, but knew that Checkers definitely did.

Rushee tried to table her concerns and concentrated on her remaining two parties.

At Life, she toured the house with a sister who showed Rushee her photo album. Rushee thought to herself that she could see herself in those pictures. She thought the girl she met was a little odd, but decided that she’d rather have odd than cookie-cutter. Especially because in spite of the “odd” goldfish comment at their skit party, the sisters at Life thought she was worth inviting back.

At the Pictionary house, Rushee felt at home. The house was old, historic and lovely. They showed her the Engagement Room – where one of each year’s residents always got engaged, and they talked about the ghost that lived on one of the floors. They had out displays of their treasured symbols and were friendly and charming.

Rushee decided that any of the four houses would make an excellent choice for her. She ranked her choices and went back to her dorm room.
Coming tomorrow... A special installment titled: "What Went Down Between 3rd and Prefs". Heavily featuing Silly Oldschool.

oh my gosh!!! i so can not wait until tomorrow :]

This is a fantastic read, BraveMaroon! I love it.

Such an enjoyable read. Can't wait for the next installment!

ACK! Such a great story, I want to read it all NOW!!!!

What went down between 3rd and Prefs:

You’re possibly wondering at this point what became of Rushee’s roommate, Silly Oldschool. Silly had been chugging along at the Risk house – she liked them and Sorry best. She and Rushee had overlapped at a few houses including Pictionary and Life. This fact worried Rushee, because in the week or so they'd been living together, Rushee had a pretty good feel for her roommate, and that feeling was, she was kind of...rude.



Silly had hated both Chess and Checkers and had cut them early on. Silly had been invited to more parties over all, and had strong opinions of her choices. She was still confident that come Bid Day, she'd be at the Risk house.



But at the moment, Silly was bored. Silly wanted to go out and party. Silly asked Rushee if she’d call the Rho Chi phone and ask “for a friend” if it would be ill-advised to go out on the town. Rushee was amused by the dumb subterfuge, so she called.



A random Rho Chi told Rushee it probably would be fine – that if her “friend” ran into any sisters, to avoid them. And she suggested that the "friend" behave in a diginfied manner. But that realistically, most houses put the kibosh on partying during rush, and they’d be too busy working on Prefs to go out. With that, Silly spritzed herself liberally in Sun-Ripened Raspberry from Bath and Body Works and hit the town with her friend Twit (who had opted not to rush).



Rushee also met some non-rushing friends - for pizza and a movie (Robin Hood - Men in Tights), but was home by 9:30 PM. She was tired. She checked her dress for the morning, and decided to get to bed early.

She was getting ready to sack out when Silly’s mother, Mrs. Oldschool called to speak with Silly. She hadn’t returned, so Rushee offered to take a message. Mrs. O asked Silly to call as soon as she got home. Rushee wrote down the message and climbed into her loft.



At midnight, the phone rang again. :mad: Rushee stumbled out of her loft, and again, Mrs. Oldschool was calling to speak with Silly. She STILL hadn’t returned, and Mrs. O asked to have Silly call her no matter what time she got in. Rushee took the message, then killed the ringer on the phone.

I know, I know - that was a bad thing for Rushee to do, but it was self-preservation. She had nearly busted her butt getting out of her loft half-asleep. Remember too, that this is in the days before cellphone, and that Silly and Rushee had not yet bought an answering machine.

Rushee slept. She woke up at 6:30 AM when Silly came home. Rushee gave her roommate the messages and told Silly to please call her mother. Silly said she would, but first she was going to get some sleep. Rushee figured she’d done her job and went back to bed. At 9AM, Rushee woke and called Mrs. O. Bad news. Risk had cut Silly. :eek::eek::eek:



Mrs. O was incensed, but Silly blew it off. She still liked the Sorry house and didn’t seem to be concerned. Her mother said she’d been calling since 6AM. Silly checked the phone and explained that the ringer had been turned off. :rolleyes:



She turned the ringer back on, and Rushee showered and read the newspaper. If they didn’t get a call by 11AM, they would be attending parties that day. Neither girl got the call, so they headed off separately to the Student Center for their party lists.


Coming tonight...Prefs.

I'm hooked...

Ooo, the plot thickens...please don't make us wait 24 hours!
________

Prefs:

So it turned out that Rushee’s worries about the Checkers and Chess houses turned out to be for naught – they both released her. Whether it was religion or personality, who could say? She was a little disappointed – she had not been invited to the maximum number of parties since the compulsory Round One events, but she was excited that both Pictionary and Life invited her back.



Her biggest worry now was whether she and Silly might end up in the same house. They hadn't talked much, but she knew now, especially since Risk was off the table, this was a possibility.


She went home to put on her navy blue dress with the big lace collar. The early nineties were a fashionable time, my friends. Suffice it to say, Rushee loved her Rush outfits and looked lovely in them.



As she was preparing for her parties, Silly stormed into their room and slammed her party sheet down on her desk. She had been released from Sorry, and decided to quit Rush. When Rushee asked where she’d been asked back, Silly said with venom, “I don’t want to say; they’re all places *you* like.” Ouch.


After Silly left, Rushee looked at the sheet and saw that Rushee had been asked to parties at Monopoly and Pictionary.


But since Silly had allegedly quit, Rushee felt relieved they would not end up in the same house. At least, that's what she hoped.



And before you get all moral about how it was wrong for Rushee to look at Silly's pref schedule, well - OK, admittedly, it was wrong, but if you had met Silly and experienced her general snotty demeanor, you would have done the same thing. Trust me.


Rushee's first party was at the Pictionary House. The Rho Chi had told her group more or less what to expect at a Pref Party. Even with that, Rushee was astounded.



The house was filled with sweet-smelling flowers, and the sisters, all dressed in matching dresses of their sorority color led Rushee to a table where she sat with a sister who was telling Rushee how special she was, and how they’d love to have her as a sister.



There was singing, there were candles, there was food, matched to the colors of the sorority (which Rushee picked up on and mentioned, much to her hostess' delight) and she was asked to accept a flower, which they would hold for her until she came back the next day as their sister. She felt a strong connection with the house and was glad to have preffed there. She could definitely see herself in Pictionary.


At the Life house, there were more beautiful flowers, sisters in black dresses and she was greeted by the hostess who she’d met at the first party, nearly a week earlier. She said she was so excited that Rushee had come to their party, and Rushee was really surprised and pleased that her hostess remembered her. She got the Rushee some sparkling cider and some food, and they headed to the hostess’ room to talk. Instead of telling Rushee how special she was, she and the hostess talked about movies, picking up where they had left off at the Round One Party. “When Harry Met Sally”, was the primary topic to be exact. Her hostess explained that they would be going down to a serious ceremony, and that they probably should be more solemn when they got downstairs. Rushee agreed.

The ceremony involved candles, singing and was similar to the one at the Pictionary house. It was very beautiful. She enjoyed every party she had been to, and thought it would be a good fit.


Rushee left her second party feeling relieved that she could go to the Greek Life Office to make her selections. Frankly, either house would have been fine, so she would mark the one that had a slight edge first, but be happy with a bid for either.



When she got to Greek Life, she saw girls weeping, paralyzed and unable to decide between Candyland and Operation, if they should suicide Scrabble or give Sorry a chance.



Rushee confidently marked her sheet, and before turning it in, asked the Rho Chi at the desk if she could see the financial obligation sheets for the Pictionary and Life houses. “Might as well see what I’m getting myself into”, she joked. The Rho Chi at the table gave her a funny look and handed her the sheets. She looked them over, handed them in with her card, and said to the Rho Chi, “Have a good evening!”

She went back to the dorm, called her parents and told them she wouldn’t be converting to Judaism after all and wrote some letters to friends at other schools. Although email had been invented in 1993, Rushee didn’t have yet have an address (she wouldn't until midway through Freshman year).

She did have Solitaire on her smoking fast 386 computer (with a dot matrix printer), so she played a few hands. Silly hit the bars again, and again, Rushee went to bed early, dreaming of colors and symbols from her two Pref houses. Silly got home late, and Rushee was already asleep.

Coming soon: Bid Day and Beyond...

I can't wait to see where Rushee gets a bid! I admit I was rooting for Pictionary from the start, as I think it's a fantastic party game. Competitive, fun, and skill-less- at least the way I play! I'm thrilled that they wound up wowing you in the end. But I'm thinking Life had the edge...? Can't wait to see what happens next!

Are you kidding me? I would think there was something wrong with Rushee if she didn't look. It's not like the sheet was in a sealed envelope. I don't really think there's an expectation of privacy when you leave open documents sitting on your desk in a shared room.
________

Loving this story!

Oh, my...I'm hooked...

Post the end!!!!

OK - this post is going to be exposition heavy, a little Silly-centric, and covers a lot of ground... but I have to get to Zumba class, so you'll get some closure later tonight:

What went down on the morning of Bid Day...


Having sufficiently partied herself out of a funk, Rushee's roommate, Silly had sometime during her evening decided that she would engage in COB (Continuous Open Bidding) in an attempt to pick up a "Snap Bid" from a desirable house house that didn't meet quota.


Rushee was told that she'd hear by 8AM if she had mismatched and wouldn't receive a bid. No call came. YES! That meant that by the end of the day she'd be a pledge at either Pictionary or Life.



Silly got on the phone with Mrs. Oldschool and started planning strategy for getting a snap bid somewhere. Mrs. O had thoughtfully pestered Greek Life into giving her a list of houses who were still looking for members.

Silly started jotting notes, and before too long, she had info on houses still looking to snap bid to quota. She dangled her keys at Rushee to see if she'd go out and get an answering machine to handle the flood of calls that would be inevitable once all the houses learned that Silly was available and on the market. :D


Rushee needed to get off campus and blow off steam, and was glad to oblige. While at K-Mart, she grabbed a back-up pair of white pantyhose and found a payphone (yes, pantyhose and payphones; look the 90s were a complicated and backwards time) to call her mother and update her.


When she got back to the room, Silly was gone, so she went to set up the new machine to the phone. Next to the phone was Silly's list of houses looking to snap bid. Both Life and Pictionary were included.

Now, Rushee wasn't a Rocket Scientist, but she did some quick mental calculating. Snap bidding meant one of a few things - either the houses in question didn't make Quota, which she believed was somewhere in the range of 60. Or that they had made quota, but were continuing to seek out enough new members to get up to Chapter Total, which on her campus was roughly 200.

The latter scenario made sense - both Pictionary and Life were smaller houses - in the 100 - 140 range. So the idea of snapping to total, or at least closer, made sense. But if the first scenario were also true, the Rushee would indeed get a bid at her first choice house.


But the fact that she was definitely getting a bid, and likely from her top choice was muddied a little by the fact that once again, Silly could easily end up in the same house as Rushee.

After lunch, it was time to head to the Student Center where the bids were released. Time would tell..


Rushee arrived at the Student Center, and the buzz was palpable. First, everyone had to meet in the main room as a group, where the Rho Chi reveal went down. This was kind of annoying. After the First Round, her Rho Chi had met with everyone and they'd had to guess what house the Rho Chi was a member of. Rushee, who was cynical by nature, figured this was an exercise in pop-psych 101.



In theory, you should love your Rho Chi and want her to be a member of the house you loved most in Round One. Or, for those who felt that they were excellent judges of character, they could "just tell" whether she was a Monopoly or a Jenga or a Candyland (she was none of these). Either way, it was both narcissistic and essentially pointless.

When it came time for Rushee to guess, she was tired and feeling a little mischievous, so she decided to be funny. She said that she thought her Rho Chi was an Uno. Now Uno is a real sorority at the campus, but their members are historically African-American, and their Rush is held separately.



Rho Chi didn't appreciate Rushee's sense of humor, or attempted sense of humor, and she rolled her eyes and asked Rushee to be serious. So, Rushee chose Operation which was a real sorority - one that was rumored to house a lot of girls who liked to smoke weed. Whatever.


As it turned out, her Rho Chi was a Boggle - one of the houses Rushee felt no connection to during Round One. Rushee was amused when a tall blond Rho Chi revealed to be a Chess, and not a Risk or a Candyland - and several girls gasped. "Hahaha!" She thought to herself "Can't judge a book by its cover!"


The Rho Chis from Pictionary were all nice looking girls with big hair (it was the 90's in the South), and the lone Rho Chi from Life, a cute, petite, serious-looking brunette, looked vaguely familiar. Rushee thought she was the one who helped her on the bus the day she couldn't figure out where she should get off to go to Clue's skit party.


Finally, after the Greek Life director made a lengthy, self-congratulatory speech on another great Rush, she released everyone to their Rush Groups to get their bids.

(Stayed tuned for a post Zumba update!)

Oh for crying out loud.

I agree with violet

aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh update!

You are evil evil evil. Maybe I shouldn't say that. After all, you could take it the wrong way and flounce off into the sunset leaving us wondering... forever. But I'm saying it anyway. Evil evil evil.

Arg! Grumble grumble.

Pretty sure there's going to be an AOPi ending to this one. :cool:

Hmmm...unless this is a new AOII, the only other sister, besides me, who pledged in '93 was a Spring recruitment New member- ForeverRoses. Maybe so, but then she'll need to come introduce herself.:D I have been chuckling at references to Sun Ripened Raspberries and other things from '93.

Though, this story sounds awfully familiar ;)...