Singing in the Halls and Other Temporary Forms of Freedom

I was sitting in class today and someone walked by the door singing down the halls of Sutherland. Later, while I was sitting in the same class, a different person walked by singing and then proceeded down the stairs and out the door, still singing. That got me thinking about some of the things that happen at college that you never experience in later life.

Here at Biola there are a lot of people who come from other countries. Because of the missionary culture here, many of the students wander around in clothes from all over the world. You can walk from your room to your class and see 3 or 4 different cultures walking by. Add in the Star Wars club, and not only do you have different cultures, but people dressed from different planets as well. This doesn't seem like it is related to the singing in the halls, but it is.

Singing in the halls and African tribal costumes are something you only see at college. Someday, all these people are going to graduate and be thrown into the work force. No one ever hears people singing in the halls as they shuffle through paper work. No one ever dresses in elfin costume to go imput numbers into a computer or try someone at court.

Why does this happen? Why do people stop expressing themselves in adulthood in the same way they do at college? Life is so much more unusual here. When was the last time that you were sitting at home watching TV, and all the men in your neighborhood started jogging around in their boxers, chanting in formation? It happened to me last week.

The one exception to this decline of unusual personal expression as we get older is the sport nut. Sports nuts manage to wear only clothes that express ther undying passion for their team, scream and yell at TV sets, bartenders, or other sports nuts, sing fight songs at the slightest provocation, and generally make a fool of themselves, and no one bats an eye. It is really quite remarkable how unusual their behavior can be before it makes anyone notice. I never thought I would say this, but maybe your next door neighbor who painted his office in his team colors, redecorated his garage in order to host his buddies for games, and only wants to talk to you about his team, has something important that you don't.