|
Back in the day…
Back in the day…
1) Everyone (well almost) in the late 50's to mid-60's wore circle pins to indicate they were still virgins. Protecting one’s reputation was crucial, especially if one was a member of a sorority. Flash forward 5 years to my first job. A new hire had been a Tri Delt at Texas and I found her sobbing in the restroom one afternoon. When she finally settled down and was able to tell me why she was so upset, I nearly fell over. Apparently, my female co-workers, most of whom had been in sororities and were several years younger than I, had been teasing her, calling her a virgin. She began to cry and shouted back, “I am not still a virgin”, attracting attention from executive management, not a great career move. I was stunned at how the culture had changed in just a few years from sorors proudly declaring their virginity to those who found being called a virgin insulting.
2) As a new NPC colony, we decided to throw a party and invite all of the other sorority women on campus so we could become better acquainted. Without giving it any thought, our social chair had invitations printed inviting each sorority to our “Cocktail Party”. We never intended to serve alcohol but the party was to be held in the evening with cocktail dress as the standard so calling it a cocktail party seemed the right thing to do. We purchased tons of food and made punch (no alcohol) and decorated the beautiful home in which the party was to be held. Dressed in our finest “cocktail” dresses, we waited and waited and no one came.
Finally, the doorbell rang and it was the President of Panhellenic standing there by herself. She had come to tell us why no one from the other sororities would be attending our party and to let us know that we would be called before the standards committee to explain why we were serving alcohol when it was strictly forbidden by both Panhellenic and university rules. Most of us were in tears by then. We showed her that there was no alcohol anywhere in sight and had her taste the punch, containing fruit, 7-Up and ice. We explained why we had called it a cocktail party, calling it a lapse in judgement. She felt just awful that we had gone to so much trouble to plan the party to get to know our fellow sorority members and no one showed up. Later, whenver we thought about that night, someone would shout out, “What if you gave a party and no one came?” By then we could laugh about it. We received apologetic phone calls the next day from all the sororities and whenever we were on campus and a soror saw us, she would make a point to come over and talk to us. We never gave another “cocktail” party during our sorority years!
3) We were kidnapped by our pledges one early morning when we had a sleep over at our sorority apartment. Someone had “leaked” their plans so naturally, we all wore our finest PJ’s and make-up and had our hair styled rather than rolled. We pretended to know nothing so as not to spoil the pledges' fun, but I am sure they knew we had been tipped off. No one looks that good at 5 a.m.!
Years later (40), I was watching Gilmore Girls, the episode in which Rory is invited to join the “Puffs” at Chilton, the upper class private high school she attended. Someone had tipped off her mother, Lorelei who encouraged Rory to dress nicely, wear make-up and style her hair. When the Puffs came to kidnap her, the other “pledges” looked like hell, while Rory was her usual beautiful self. I had to laugh as it reminded me of our pledges kidnapping us when we were fully dressed. The Puffs were caught in the Headmaster’s office and suspended from school. We were lucky…we went to the Pancake House!
There are a million stories but this will have to do for now.
Paula M.
Sigma Delta Tau
Last edited by paulam; 04-24-2008 at 11:05 AM.
|
Hybrid Mode
