this is how they do, in 1972. yesterday i had dinner at my friend jennifer's house. we've known jennifer's family for pretty much all of our american lives -- since i was six. her dad used to go to college with my dad and they remained close over the years as both families settled down in san diego. every time i go visit with them, uncle andy gets a bit tipsy and starts regaling us with stories of his and my dad's college exploits.



apparently they used to run things at taiwan university, the "harvard of taiwan." they were student association officers as sophmores so they got to do things "their way." like getting the school library to adopt an open shelf policy, taking over the contracted food vendors that rented space from the student union, changing test scores, that kind of thing. they also threw parties, the first officially sanctioned party of any kind at taiwan university. because taiwan is such a small country and the prestige of taiwan university was so high, they invited all the movie stars, singers and celebrities to attend this inaugural college party. to me, this idea seems ridiculous. it's like some college throwing a party and deciding to invite britney spears, justin timberlake and the olsen twins to come on down and party it up at some rented dance hall. no way that would happen. but times were different then.



so what did our dads do at these parties? first off, the boys of taiwan university had to go pick up girls from the other colleges to attend their parties. taiwan university is co-ed but having a fresh supply of females never hurts. so, the males of taiwan university would drive up to the nearby all girls college (the one my mom attended) and just pick up girls. no pre-arranged rides or times. just roll up in your car, wait a few minutes and girls would come out and be whisked away. imagine a taxi line of cars just sitting there and an endless supply of random chicks jumping into them. my dad's hometown of tai-jong was south of taipei and much poorer and country so uncle andy told us that when they went to a party down there, the boys of tai-jong would go pick up the girls in a similar fashion, but with bicycles. so a line of bicycles would be ready to pedal girls away to the party. is this not funny to you? c'mon, have a heart.



once at the party, all the males would line up on one side of the hall, all the girls on the other, and then when the music started, a mad dash by the males to go select a female. kind of like dodgeball i guess, with the girls being the balls. or i guess musical chairs would be more appropriate. back then, a girl could not ask a guy to dance so any girls left unpicked just sat there, sometimes for the whole night. my father and uncle andy's group of friends took it upon themselves -- as hosts and shining knights -- to target these sad lonely girls. they were the collective wingmen i suppose.



and what kind of music did they dance to? all the oldies, names that uncle andy reeled off but i do not recognize (except for elvis presley). they would make mixtapes (mix hi-8s?) with two songs each of all the ballroom dances. two waltzes, two cha chas, two lindy hops, whatever. and this was how they partied. alchohol was forbidden but there was juice and pop and snacks. i'm not sure what the policy was on taking a girl back to your dorm since i didn't really need to know those details. or how the girls got home. like did they go back with their original ride or get taken home by whoever fancied them? i have no clue. i will find out more next time.



isn't "fancy" just the classiest way of saying "i have feelings for you and/or i want to jump your bones?" i'm gonna use that word instead of "like" or "attracted" from now on. i feel the need for some class in my life, among numerous other things.