Homecoming is Bigger in Texas
Thursday November 1, 2007 | 3 comments
Because the college I work for is housed in a high school, we get to observe high schoolers in their natural habitat. Since I never went to high school in the US, this is a very new experience for me. More often than not as I look at the students filing in or out of class I think to myself, “I’m so glad I’m not in high school anymore!”
I feel for these kids. Their world is extremely competitive and stressful. Not only do they have to keep up with the latest trends (I’ve lost count of all the Gucci purses I see on any given day) but they also have to make sure they are popular enough, athletic enough, academic enough, etc, etc, etc.
One might think that popularity is somewhat intangible, a bit elusive, and hard to quantify. At least that was my opinion until I showed up to work on Homecoming Friday. I realized something wasn’t quite the same as I was walking to the office. There was this strange clinging sound everywhere and I couldn’t quite identify it. Bells? No. Salvation Army bells? No. Santa sleigh bells? Who knows?
It wasn’t until much later in the day when a co-worker mentioned cow bells that it finally clicked. Cow bells! That’s what it is! Yes, ladies and gents, the high school was abuzz with cow bells. Strange? Well, it gets better. These aforementioned cow bells weren’t just any ol’ cow bells, my friends. No, these ones were of special variety.
These particular cow bells just happened to be attached to…get ready…Homecoming mums! Although, I am really not sure that the objects worn by high school girls around here could technically qualify as mums. When I think of a mum, I think of a small, elegant arrangement of flowers pinned on a girl’s dress, the key word here being pinned. And, if I am not mistaken, that’s the definition of a mum in at least 48 other states.
Texas, as I have learned, is not really a state. It’s not even a country. It’s almost like another planet in the solar system. But I digress. Back to mums. Apparently, Texans do believe that bigger is better. Translated to high school terms, the bigger, more pimped out your mum—the more popular you are. As simple as that.
The mums I saw on that fateful Friday will haunt me forever. These couldn’t be pinned on a dress. They had to either be strapped around your shoulders or around your neck. They came with Christmas lights, cow bells, teddy bears, ribbons, picture frames, and other small knick-knacks to help quantify one’s popularity. They were practically screaming, “The bigger it is, the more your boyfriend loves you.”
An average mum was about a foot in diameter with ribbons touching the floor. Here is a good definition of a mum. And this is a news story with beautiful illustrations. It’s Texas ya’ll!
{ Speak Your Mind }
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OMG! I have just been discussing this with my friend who also grew up with me in Texas but now lives in Missouri. She pointed out to me this insanity. I thought it was normal until I became an adult. But I do want to go on record saying that I only ever owned 1 mum and that was in middle school and too young to know any better. After that point, I refused to participate in it.
Growing up in Texas, I always thought that things were done the same around the world as they were in Texas. I am 35 years old now and up until I started blogging, I still thought that. I guess that is exactly what you meant by “It’s almost like another planet in the solar system.”!
(BTW, thanks for the link!)
Jenny: I’m proud of you for refusing that kind of pressure. I can’t imagine what it must have been like. As I was watching the girls carry their mums around, I was thinking I don’t want to have my kids go to high school here, it’s a horrible thought to have, but it was that bad.
Dana: Having lived all over the place in the states and Europe, I definitely consider Texas another planet. My husband and I have lived here almost a year and I am still surprised on a daily basis by the things people say and do around here.