call to action

there's a tradition at the teen's school called "action" - it's something that the entire student body looks forward to all year long. the four classes are split into teams, assigned a team color, given a team name. they gather together in the school gym to play team sports, like tug o'war, the three legged race, etc. and there's no actual prize - it's all for bragging rights.

they create a t-shirt and sell them for $10, and all participants and attendees are expected to buy and wear one. apparently, it's also tradition to chop the shit outta that shirt and customize it. or, more appropriately, hoochify it. oh, yes. just wait.

the teen got together with a bunch of her friends to get ready that evening and ride together to the school. the bean and i headed over a little later, and i put her in my trusty ergo carrier and listened to her chatter to me about what she was seeing. as we approached the gym, we could hear the cheering and hollering inside.

glendora's finest was in full force. with not much else to do, they were gathered at the school to make sure that the crowd didn't get too rowdy.

the gym was packed with students, parents, and faculty. and good god, was it hot in there. i was sweating from the moment we set foot inside.

i was torn between being amused and appalled at the booty shorts and fishnets that seemed to be on every other girl's legs.

there were some interesting hairstyles, too. lots of school and class spirit everywhere.

this poor lady was in charge of keeping the unruly crowds in line. at one point, when she heard the sophomore class chanting "you suck! you suck!" and booing, she put them in their place by calling them out over the loudspeaker and then docking them by one precious point.

i didn't get a shot of every class, but the freshmen were in green and given the lowly title of "trolls." the sophomores wore blue and were the "ninja turtles," the juniors got yellow and were dubbed the "power rangers," and then the seniors wore red and called themselves the "transformers."

i cracked up at the plethora of painted signs that the classes had all created to adorn their respective corners.

here's a handful of examples of what they all wore. to be honest, i was really quite horrified at how a lot of these girls were dressed. i couldn't help but wonder what their parents were thinking when they let them out of the house looking like this. and then i thanked god yet again that my own teen has zero desire to dress this way - she's not exactly conservative, but she isn't into showing a lot of skin. instead, she likes to join me in stealthily pointing out and laughing at some of the more ridiculous ensembles that we come across.

it got so stuffy and loud in there, the bean and i took off before it was over. she was pretty entertained by all she saw and heard, and kept telling me "look, mommy, silly kids! so loud!"

indeed.