Baking Soda Girl

I find it useful to not take too many things seriously. 

There are many fragile objects and issues that need to be handled with care. But it is important to be able to distinguish between things that are only to be touched with recently-washed fingertips, and things that can be slapped around a little with a cat box scooper. 


What social rules should a person follow in deciding what to take and what not to take seriously? How does one even gain access to social rules in the first place?


I'm really not sure. 

But 

I can tell you what not to take seriously: 

Sororities 


This story illustrates the experience of a girl who was unable to view her sorority with the amount of seriousness equating to other girls around her. 

When sororities try to get new girls to join, they have something called rush week. During rush week, girls who are unaffiliated with the Greek system on their college campus hang out with the sorority that they are interested in for this week, and everyone gets to see if they like one another. 

I know what you're thinking. 
How can anyone spend an entire week with one specific group of girls, who, that entire week, are wearing the same v-neck shirts with alternating colors.
But this is irrelevant at this time. All you need to know is during rush week there are often parties or "socials" with other frats (I think they call them socials because a drink-induced relaxed atmosphere allows for socializing between girls and boys). 

It was a Wednesday night and one girl, who was newly inducted into her sorority, decided against her better judgment to join her "sisters" for a week-night full of fun in a small warm room with a large sweaty frat.  

At about forty minutes past the time that the party started (meaning about ten minutes past the time when everyone showed up), the girls and boys got in a circle and began to say their names, years, majors, and other things like home towns and name of first cat. And at the end, the thing everyone anticipated the most, people said a fun fact about themselves. 

Now before I go on with the story, the extent to which this personal question registered as significant in the minds of the people participating in this circle should be made clear. This was the chance that a person could make anything known about themselves to the entire room of people. You could brag about the music festival you went to in the summer and seem all culturally inclined, or you could tell of special talent that you know will be brought up later in the night. 

So as the circle moved along, and people's passions for raising horses and being a vegetarian were mentioned, it became closer and closer to being our girl's turn. 

Ooooh... she thought, as her sister talked about spending the previous quarter of college in France... What am I supposed to say?
I could say I have a pet hedgehog, but really Thornton is Dani's. I don't even play with him very much. It's just so difficult. You have to where the glove, and he only gets a bath every few...

"Yo! What's your name?" 

She said her name. Described the obscure place in which she grew up. And upon thinking about her day, remembered the change she had made to her daily getting-ready routine. 

"I use baking soda instead of deodorant"  

Her big sister (the person who is supposed to guide a new sorority girl member when she decides to join) slapped her hand over her mouth. 
The girl whose turn it was after Baking Soda Girl started releasing saliva from the corners of her lips as she tried to take her turn without laughing. 
And the expressions of the frat boys can most accurately be described as shocked. 
Except for one boy in the corner, who for the first time that evening, seemed to be interested in what was going on in front of him. He began to smile. 

After Baking Soda Girls announced her fun fact, the circle moved along quickly. Within a few minutes music was hurriedly blasted and people of opposite sexes started to intermingle. 

Throughout the entire night when BSG shook hands with a new guy, the first thing he said to her was: 

"Hey, are you Baking Soda Girl?" 

oh well...