Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 18, 1992 TAG: 9202180277
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Kathleen Wilson
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CLASS ENCOUNTER OF THE VALENTINE
Hung out at Burlington Elementary School and the Cave Spring Junior High Valentine's dance last Friday and did the kindermingle thing.It really hit home Valentine's day might be something you just outgrow.
I asked a friend (let's-call-him-Ben - he preferred anonymity in matters of the heart) just exactly how many he received this year.
Pause.
"None," Ben admitted.
"Me neither," I confessed.
That's none. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Zero.
An untapped market for Hallmark: valentines you give to people to whom nobody gives valentines.
Henceforth, some suggested verses:
Roses are red, violets are blue,
Hear you got dumped; I did too.
Over at Burlington Elementary: "Yo, dudette! Won't you be my valentine?" asserted 7-year-old Eric Price's favorite Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtle card.
But the coolest of the cool were the Michael Jordan cards. At last! Valentines for boys. They look like baseball trading cards but have slogans like "Have a jammin' day" on them.
A Barbie and Ken card was the fave of blue-eyed Jessica Alls, who wore a heart-shaped pendant she got from Santa.
You're alone on Valentine's Day,
It's really not so bad,
'Specially when you look,
At the jerks you could have had.
"By the end of the evening," Cave Spring civics teacher Ann Deeds said, "you're going to see more tears, more crying in the bathroom and more broken hearts."
I went immediately to the bathroom.
There were two extravaganzas going on at the Roanoke County junior high school last Friday: the dance in the gym and the melodrama in the girls' room.
I walked in on this conversation: "I'm mad, and it involves a certain blonde, but I'm not going to let it ruin my evening," the girl said stoically as she exited.
I figured the bathroom might be a pretty good spot to really get a feel for this whole junior high thing.
Ginny, Allison and Julie were playing cards on the window sill. "No one's asking us to dance, so why not play cards?" they explained, having a marvelous time until a teacher encouraged them to join the festivities in the gym.
The mirror was in big demand, and serious hair issues were being addressed. There wasn't a girl in there who didn't puff or balloonify her bangs. And not one entering the restroom actually used the facilities. One girl looked at herself in sort of a trance-like state for more than a minute, just fluffing her bangs.
A girl named Julie dispatched someone named Victoria on a who's-dancing-with-whom expedition.
Eventually, even I was ousted from the girls' room by the students. Seems there were tears in the hall, and the broken-hearted didn't want a reporter to witness the crisis.
Believe me, I could relate.
He was handsome and witty,
Tall, smart and cute too,
But he left without warning,
He was good to be true.
Meanwhile, back in the gym . . .
The kids form huge circles and challenge each other to dance to the music of C&C Music Factory ("Everybody Dance Now"), Hammer ("Can't Touch This"), Nirvana ("Smells Like Teen Spirit") and Madonna ("Vogue, Vogue").
The crowd cheers and never jeers. They head bang, break dance and pogo. Don't ask me to describe this. You've gotta see it first hand.
I randomly sampled the students for the best-dressed among them, and everyone agreed it was Missy ("Can you write I was `stylin' in foreign threads?") Hayes. My choice would have been Sherry Konen, dressed very Coco Chanel.
Chris Gilliland wore the coolest tie. He asked me to describe it as "pulsating exotic."
The cutest couple just had to be Jason Hall and Elisha Hodges, who shyly admitted that they were indeed an item.
When it comes down to serious dancing, it's a tie between Boyd Jordan and Micah Bibby. The two provided first-rate entertainment.
Jennifer Wilmer and Lory Webster get the healthiest-attitude awards about this whole dance deal. They came alone and had a great time.
"You don't need a date to dress up," Jennifer said. Added Lory, "And you sure don't have to have a boyfriend to have fun."
Not here. These were confident individuals. Principal Martha Cobble and all the parents should be mighty proud.
Adults can learn a lot from the students at Cave Spring Junior High.
Girlfriend, listen up,
' I've been there too,
He may have had his moments,
But he sure made you blue.
He filled your life with tears, toil and strife?
Now don't you think it's time
To get on with your life?
THE PARTY LINE: If you're having a party or celebration, invite free-lance Mingling columnist Kathleen Wilson. Call her at 981-3434; when asked for the mailbox, dial MING (6464) and press the key. Or write her in care of the Features Department, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491.