Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Spring Fest

What a nice day today! Well, nice in the fact that Spring Fest was today and one of the sororities runs a dunk tank every year. Not too nice for the girls as the warmest the temperature ever got was maybe 60 (if they got lucky) and it was cloudy with some on and off drizzle. The girls looked quite cold. All in all, it looked like a great fund raiser for them. Lots of business.... and who could blame them. Soaking wet and freezing cold girls seems to be a good draw.

I actually caught the action from the start. They finished filling the tank and then the first girl up was a cute Filipino girl in a purple t-shirt and spanx. She sat there for a few minutes before people started throwing. It didn't take long for her to go down. I could read her lips saying, "Oh my God it's so cold!!" She ended up sitting up there for about 40 minutes. The more she got dunked, the easier it got. She seemed comfortable given the cold weather.

The next girl up was wearing a long sleeved red shirt and black spanx. She actually sat up there for a while before her first dunk. She was quite nervous waiting for the first cold drop. She tied her hair up in a semi-bun, which I knew wouldn't last for long. Her hands were folded in front of her chest dreading the cold water. Eventually it came. The target was hit and she dropped straight to the bottom of the tank. She sat back up on the seat and immediately was dunked again. She had a lot of good throwers come by. After a couple dunks, she gave up on the hair tie and let her hair down. She got dunked many times. After each dunk, she seemed to hold her legs tighter together and folding her arms or keeping her hands in her lap. It was very nice.

The last girl I saw wore a purple t-shirt and long black tights. She was really cute. She sat there for a minutes before someone finally hit the target. She was also pretty shocked at how cold the water was and how even colder it was getting out. On Twitter she mentioned how it was the "coldest experience of her life." I believe it. A half hour getting dunked in cold water on a cold day. That's a trooper.

When the dance team ran their dunk tank 12 years ago (wow! has it really been that long???) It was just as cold, BUT after the first night at least (when the temperature really dropped) the girls had the luxury of a heater being attached to the tank and getting dunked into WARM water. They wore clothes that kept the warm water close to their bodies, and if they got cold, they just had someone put them in the water.

This brings up an interesting thing with me: what is the attraction of girls being COLD in a dunk tank? I've seen it all my life. Girls getting dunked in cold water. Shivering as they sit on the seat waiting to get dunked again. Seeing the girls at the county fair growing up getting dunked at night. Dripping, cold. It has to be uncomfortable. I'm a nice person. I don't like to cause people discomfort, but when it comes to a dunk tank, I want a chilly girl.

I love my wife, but my two favorites of all the times she has been in a dunk tank were the two she was the coldest. Once with the dance team when she had the last shift at 10:30-11:00 PM, and temps were in the 60s. Warm water, but cool air. The second was at H Day when it was a relatively warm day, BUT the water she was getting dunked in was freezing. She sat up there for a half hour both times. The first one she would be cold sitting out, but once she got dunked it was better. The second, each time she got dunked she got colder and colder. You see this a lot when girls are in the tank for a half hour. The more they get dunked in cold water, no matter how warm it is out, the colder they get. At the end of her shift (actually just after her last dunk), she sat up there shivering with legs pressed together and hands folded in front of her chest. I was going to throw a few more balls just since she only was going to be up there another minute or two (because her replacement was late), but I didn't.

It's weird, I know, but I like seeing the discomfort. Why? I don't think I want absolutely blue, hypothermia setting in freezing (like putting ice cubes in the tank.... that's just stupid). But I like chilled and some discomfort. I guess because part of why I like the dunk tank is that the girl doesn't want to go in. My wife is the perfect dunkee. She sits up there, having some fun, encouraging people to throw (especially if raising money), BUT she doesn't want them to hit the target. No acting there. She is a good sport and will give of herself to get dunked for the enjoyment of others (namely me), but as she sits up there, she doesn't REALLY want to go in the water. It's all good fun.

So, THANK YOU to the sorority girls today for putting on a great show and braving the cold water and cold weather for the amusement of others. I hope you earned a lot of money.

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