Friday, September 07, 2007

Here is my Effi Barry story. It was Monday, November 22, 1993, and I was halfway through my sophomore year of college. It was a short week, since Thanksgiving was that Thursday, so a lot of kids were taking off early. To combat this, a lot of teachers were giving important exams on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, just to be sure they had decent attendance. My health teacher, Ms. Effi Barry, had shown no indication that she was going to do such thing, so I went with to Hartford, CT, to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my then girlfriend. I skipped Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and I figured that because it was only health, I'd be golden. I returned to class on Monday morning, and Ms. Barry mentioned nothing about the exam she had given the Tuesday while I was out. Then at the very end of class, she handed back the exams and I was the only one not to receive one. Of course after class, she asked to see me in her office. Man, the FIRST thing I noticed when I went to her office, was not the trouble I had potentially caused, but how attractive she was for a woman in her late 40s. She quickly shut that down though, and the first thing she asked me was where I was from, and I told her Potomac, MD, and she chuckled a bit and asked me if what I thought about the whole Marion Barry fiasco that had transpired, which was very awkward. Then she asked me if I had gone to Maryland when I skipped her class, and I said no, I went to CT with my girlfriend. Again she laughed, allowed me to take the exam over, but she said that even if I scored perfectly, the highest grade I could earn would be a "B", since I had skipped three days of class. That seemed fair to me, and she dismissed me from her office. About 15 minutes had elapsed, and that was really all I needed to be a fan of hers. There were only two more weeks of class after that, and then I never had to take her class again. I would occasionally see her at a Hampton football game, but that was always in passing, and she would be in the company of her son, so no one would really bother her. I figured I would share this happy story on the day after her death.

I was absolutely ecstatic while watching the game last night. The Super Bowl champion, Indianapolis Colts pretty much showed that they aren't affected by all of the personnel changes on defense, and they WILL defend their title with vigor. On top of that, all of my fantasy football players did lovely, the beer was plentiful, my friend was patient with me, and even watched parts of the game AND Big Brother was entertaining. Can't ask for much more than that.

Taste of Your Love - EU
This song has the distinction of being the backdrop for my FIRST slowdance back in 1990. I was at a party, and this was the era when DJs still played slow songs so that young boys could attempt to act like they didn't want women to feel how excited they were to be real cloooose. Or, to use 90's terminology, the boys wanted the girls to feel their nature rise. Good times indeed. Now instead of slow songs, they just play reggae, and that isn't even remotely the same. I don't even know what the hell they are saying half the time.

5 comments:

maxwellsmusze said...

i am cracking up @ this song choice for today!

OWWWWWWW!

Unknown said...

Chicago DJ's still play slow jams. Somehow I was slow dancing with an evangelist....that's a story for another time.

Miss. Lady said...

May Effi rest in peace.

I would have flunked you in that class just because I could...lol.

Mhm, you have taken me wayyyyyy back with your song selection for today.

Miss Black River said...

Thanks for the story on Ms. Barry. They say she was Marion Barry's one true love and that her illness has been the main reason for his decline/ relapse of late. She really was a remarkable woman.

redhotmama said...

you sound real old and crotchety right now re: the reggae comment. lol