DailySusan Humor Blog

WHY THEY CALL IT 'RUSH'

Another sorority Rush Week has ended at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. More than 800 young women, mostly freshmen, got as gussied up as girls get today, and went from sorority house to sorority house in a series of parties that culminated with them selecting their sorority and vice versa.

I remember it well in my collegehood days, how smart-aleck fraternity boys would cluster their lawn chairs out in front of their houses as the rushees walked by, and “rate” them with cards similar to the ones held up by diving judges. You know: a girl would come walking along, thinking she was a “10,” and three boys would hold up a “6,” a “5” and a “7,” or whatever, to deflate her ego just when she didn’t need it.

I guess that kind of thing still goes on. The frat rats were playing on their Slip ‘n’ Slide outside their house this past week while ogling the girls, while others sat on their front stoops or hung out their windows, watching the stream of lovelies pass by on the sidewalks.

Their wolf whistles and catcalls got pretty intense. One girl made the mistake of looking toward them . . . and she ran right into a parking meter. WHAM! Then she got her heel caught in the vent around it.

That’s why they call it “rush,” I guess – you just want to get through it as quickly as possible, with some semblance of self-esteem intact, and let some time pass, so you can look back on it with a smile.