Catchphrases and A Breach of Personal Comfort

I decided that it is only appropriate to read other blogs if I update mine. My life never seems quite interesting enough for other people to read. Oh well, you can deal with that.
While I was at EFY this summer (I worked 3 weeks as a counselor at a church summer camp- best job ever) I discovered that the youth LOVED every time we had cool catch phrases. So I picked up some that I can't seem to shake. My two favorites are "Deal with that" and "Turns out." Maybe if I use them with a situational example you'll understand better.

ex. 1: (A strange EFY tradition that i never quite liked or even understood is escorting. The youth like to meet at each others dorms in the morning to walk to breakfast together arm in arm.**see below**)While meeting my youth the second week i said: We aren't going to escort the girls to breakfast because they have asked us not to in the mornings so DEAL WITH THAT. It would make us late for breakfast anyway. TURNS OUT it isn't the best idea after all.

ex. 2: (I met my roommates and they asked if I wanted to go play basketball-Why basketball? I don't know- why don't people ever want to play pick-up games of soccer or volleyball?) After playing a game of basketball I said: I was never very good at basketball. TURNS OUT there is nothing you can do about it so DEAL WITH THAT.

So that is it. Catchphrases win friends. I heard from one youth form EFY who told me he has told everyone about my catchphrases- I'm famous.

**A Thought About Escorting: The danger of escorting lies in the awkward moments found while two fourteen-year-olds try to hold conversation.

The art of escorting goes something like this: from the first day all the youth scope out who their
C.O.W. (Crush of the week) will be. the boys find a girl they hope to escort and the girls find a guy they'd like to ask them. then as the week begins as soon as the counselors say 'Find an escort,' the youth pause. All of a sudden the awkwardness of walking arm in arm has hit the boys. Each girl waits anxiously as the boys are coerced into finding an escort 9not because the counselors really care if the youth meet the opposite sex-- but because logistically its easier to keep track of the youth when they walk in a single file line). The girls silently rejoice inside as the right boy asks offers his arm but then they too are struck but the uncomfortable escorting.

Rarely does anyone actually enjoy escorting- it could be because of the tie to the 1500s with nights and ladies, or it could be the inescapable moment when your escort says nothing, or maybe it is just the girl who shaved her arms just before EFY started and is scratching you with stubble. Whatever your reason- you'll discover its weird. Nonetheless EFY youth pretend to LOVE it and Counselors keep enforcing it. If only I had a picture of the awkward-escort-lines to post, then you could more fully imagine the strange intricacies of EFY. Unfortunately this will be a picture-less post.