For anyone that never experienced the joys of attending an HBCU (myself included) going to the Old School House picnic was like getting your fix... minus pledging a Greek organization. Black folks, BBQ, and good ol' house music were in full abundance at the picnic and as a first time attendee I wasn't disappointed. After having a late Friday night (I got home at 5am Saturday morning) I was in no rush to wake up and be at the park by the recommended 3p or 4p. I made my way there around 7p and soon realized that I was late for the festivities. Most people were starting to clean up their tents so I had to enter scavenger mode to find some food (a nice man ended up feeding us shrimp, hot dogs, chicken, etc... I don't think his chick was thrilled about the mob of 5 hungry women invading her space. lol...) The crowd was definitely older but as the newest member of the 25-34 box I was trying to keep an open mind and take in all the sights.
A few things that stood out to me were the massive amounts of tape and rope people had used to section off their tents/bbq areas. It was like mini tribes marking their land and daring you to cross. There were a few hater ass friends seated nearby to deter any unwelcome guests. lol... I also notices a few hot messes that were worthy of being noted.
~ The grown man walking around with his Pucci Shirt, Gucci bag, and Prada ski goggles... yes, ski goggles in the middle of summertime in the Chi (and actually having the nerve to have the damn things pulled down over his eyes) had me scratching my head! To make matters worse his walk was slightly more fierce that Tyra. I think he may have had a few personal catwalk sessions with Ms. Jay.
~The guy walking around with his creepy ass lizard on his shoulder! Eww... I don't like reptiles and wish he would've kept that to himself.
In addition to some of the atrocious sights were even worse pickup lines. For the record, my name is
not "Tig-O-Bitties" nor does "That's a pretty dress, why don't you lift it up" work...so please, go back to the drawing board and get your shit together.
All in all I had an enjoyable time but for next year I'll be prepared to arrive earlier, organize my own tent with my friends, and be sure to have a nice amount of food and rope so that I can keep scavengers out.
sidebar: Can I also just say that this is probably the only time I'll ever walk from 63rd/Stony Island to 71st/Stony Island. That was an experience in and of itself. lol...