Judging people I don't know

As I mentioned earlier in this blog, I take a class at Penn once a week. I've done this a couple times before and have enjoyed it. Going into the city once a week (although I say I go to school in Philadelphia, I actually go to school in "fake Philadelphia" as Chiz calls it) gets me off campus, forces me to plan ahead and be organized and allows me to meet people who are different than me. I mean different, very different. The kids in my Penn classes are NOTHING like the kids you meet in the Bi-Co. I have to take time before getting on the train to the city to plan out what I am going to wear. I can't wear sweats, nothing stamped with the word "Princeton" (which rules out half my wardrobe) everything down to my shoes has to look respectable. I'm never going to get to the level of fashionable that most of the people are in my classes, but I can at least look respectable. Even pulling my hair up into a ponytail gets a disapproving look sometimes. As a result, no matter how hard I try I always end up looking like a crazy cat lady when I walk into the class room. This week I sat across from 5 guys who each dressed in a completely different style, each one of them looking like a tool. While I didn't know it, I was in the early stages of bronchitis at this point and was totally unable to focus on anything other than the fact that I was staring at five of the biggest tools ever. So I of course wrote down everything I could about them and made up what I believe to be their backstories. Other than their wardrobes, none of this information is fact. Here we go.

Guy # 1

Style: European

Clothes: Scarf, shiny black ankle boots (what?) Tight pants, vintage jacket

Hair: Carefully gelled into a slight faux hawk

What I think his name is: Mark

Possible alternative for names: Evan

Where is he from: New York

Level of toolishness: Clothes and personal grooming were very tooly. My buddy Ari thought he was incredibly attractive, I disagree. He didn't say anything stupid during class, however, so we'll put him down as just a tool.

Guy #2

Style: Grunge, but stylishly grunge

Clothes: T-shirt with a picture of some famous musicians mug shot. I could see who, but I've seen the t-shirt around. Black zip-up sweatshirt, khaki pants that were surprisingly not ripped or torn. Black sneakers with white socks (bad choice)

Hair: Under a baseball hat

What I think his name is: Adam

Possible alternatives for name: Dan

Where is he from: Lower to Middle Bucks County, PA 

Level of toolishness: Least toolish of the five. He made me in my sweatshirt (it was cold!) look good. Spent all of class with a smirk on his face. Minor tool

Guy #3

Style: Caroline's ideal man (I get one dig at Caroline per every 4 entries)

Clothes: Black blazer, faintly blue collared shirt, finely pressed khakis, loafers, pink tie

Hair: Short, perfectly styled. Strangely flat on top

What I think his name is: Michael (not Mike)

Possible alternatives for name: Alex

Where is he from: New York City suburbs, most likely Westchester County, possibly Connecticut

Level of toolishness: Massive tool. He wore a blazer and tie to class. His shoes were polished. He didn't speak at all during class but instead snickered to his buddy (see Guy #4). Obviously Wharton. 

Guy #4

Style: Preppy

Clothes: Yellow oxford shirt under a black fleece North Face pullover. Khaki pants, sneakers with no socks (there was an ice storm going on outside, bad decision)

Hair: A bit tussled, most likely grown out after a haircut at the beginning of winter break

What I think his name is: Andrew

Possible alternatives for name: Kevin

Where is he from: Massachusetts, probably Newton. Also perhaps from Virginia, Arlington area. Also, it just hit me, maybe Maine.

Level of toolishness: I was going to put him at massive tool, because he was friends with our other massive tool, but he won my heart when he was answering questions. As I mentioned in a previous blog entry our professor teaches by asking open ended questions that no one knows the answer to. Guy #4 was so flustered by this that he began shouting out random answers just to end the awkward silence. It led to such exchanges as:

Professor: So when you build a town around a company the first thing you'll need is a......

Guy #4: Fire truck!

So I'm downgrading him to tool. I will also spend the semester trying to woo him. 

Guy #5

Style: Dorky cute (I despise those who use the dorky cute as a fashion sense. Unless you are a clueless dork, it doesn't work! If you are fully aware that you look like a dork, then you are a dork)

Clothes: Collared grey knit longsleeve, jeans that were slightly flared at the bottom, glasses, new sneakers with yellow laces

Hair: shaggy, brown and curly

What I think his name is: Jeff

Possible alternatives for name: Charlie

Where is he from: I'm going with St Louis just because I have no clue and the random people are always from the midwest. 

Level of toolishness: As a person, he's only a minor tool. But he kept butting in to add his own two cents on everything which bumped him up to a big tool

I had more to say on all of these guys, but I was unable to write it all down when I got back from class because I was so sick. I picked a good week to get sick, our entire campus is completely covered in ice. So I'm not going anywhere, but it's all good because if I did go anywhere I would slip and die. Merion Green, a nice lawn in the middle of campus that everyone likes to hang out on when it's warm, is completely covered in snow that is then covered in two inches of ice. As it is on a bit of an incline, it is possible to stand at the top of it and with a bit of momentum slide your way to the science center and/or gym. That could be a fun experiment if I wasn't so afraid of pain.