Thursday, March 3, 2011

oh, to be classy

the first time i can remember hearing anyone refer to someone as being "classy" was when i was about 10 years old and i was at summer camp. there was a girl in my cabin, around the same age as me, and i heard 2 different "adults" (i put it in quotes because they seemed like adults to me then, but they were probably about 18) say that this girl was classy. i wasn't entirely sure what it meant, but it was clear that they said it in an admiring and somewhat surprised way. i deemed it to be something that i should strive for, whatever it was, so i watched this girl, heather, and studied her behavior and mannerisms, trying to learn something that would make me a better person.

i noticed that she shaved her legs, dry, sitting on her bed. she ate less candy than most of us. she showered daily without anyone having to tell her to. she wasn't a participant in the out-of-control giggle-fests that ran rampant during the evenings at camp. she had naturally curly hair.

i tried to emulate some of those qualities in the weeks and months to come. i tried to willingly eat less junk food. i tried to laugh less and shower more. i tried out the dry shave, but owie with the post-shave razor burn, so i gave it up after one round. i didn't have curly hair, but i sure had a tight perm (thanks, grandma).

i had another friend, my childhood bestie, who i've talked about in several of my childhood story recountings on this blog, who i learned was also a classy kind of girl. her family had significantly more money than my family did & she was an only child, so i thought maybe that was part of it. but there was nothing i could do about my family's income or my multiple siblings. i couldn't afford to dress expensively, but eventually i realized it wasn't so much about how you dressed or where you lived, but more about how you carried yourself and presented yourself to the world.

i tried to be this

i wanted to be a girl who others admired for her style, maturity, and sophistication. i wanted the adults around me to tell each other that i was classy and wish that their kids were like me. i really did try.

but i never quite managed to be that girl. i was loud. i laughed obnoxiously and often. i spit on the ground after snorking up big loogies. i burped out tunes. i talked about my period. i kissed boys and told everyone about it. i ate large quantities of nachos and didn't wash my hands. i carved my name into benches and walls. i made weird faces and talked in stupid voices. i was rarely subdued when my friends were around and i was the first one to stand on a bench and scream over the heads of a crowd in order to get the attention of someone i wanted to speak with.



but i was more like this

eventually i realized that i was never going to be someone who would be labeled as classy. however, i did discover that i had earned the label of fun. and while fun isn't admired in the same way that classy is, it was something that people liked to have around. the fun girl is a good time at a party or a on a road trip. the fun girl knows how to make the best of even the most embarrassing situations and rather than hide those moments, she celebrates them. the fun girl is chattery and outrageous and noisy.

there are still days when i think i could become a classy lady, but then i find myself digging a bug out of my cleavage in a very public place while squealing and spinning around on tip-toe and i realize, yet again, that it will never be.

29 comments:

  1. Please...please...PLEASE! Just promise me that you will never try to be "classy" again.

    You are most defintely fun...and classy, by my definition which is a woman who enjoys herself, her family and life with the entirety of her woman's heart. Now THAT'S classy!

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  2. Loved this post. I never made it to classy either. But fun is much more fun!

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  3. I am completely unclassy, too. And I have rarely met a girl named Heather that I could tolerate. I'll bet her hair was the perfect curling kind, where she didn't have to douse it with gel and fight the frizz like the rest of us. She probably grew up to be a hooker.

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  4. This is a great post Sherilin! I too was a talking loud, laughing loud, burping fun young lady. I wouldn't change a thing! I think classy might lead to a boring, prude-sih life, don't you think? I will take loud and fun over that any day!
    A fun girl likes to post about farts!! Thats us!!! :)

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  5. I'd have to dig a bug out of my fat ars because I'll never have cleavage. Sigh. This pear-shaped girl has very little class, too. Being a blast is much more fun than having class!

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  6. I'll probably never make the Classy list either. Fun is better.
    And I love CarrieAnn's comment - totally agree with that assessment!

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  7. Classy is over rated these days. Especially when a woman like Snooki is idolized.

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  8. SherilinR

    You have a way with words ...
    Love your stories, because I think we can all relate. You bring me back to my days as a kid.

    It is really funny when we hear "adult talk" as kids.

    I was a dark horse at home and never fit in...but I found my way, being, the fun girl too.

    I could not be snobby or sophisticated like my sister...
    the one who all the boys dated for her big boobs..and I was really glad of that!

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  9. Psssssh. Classy is so much work. Being fun is just natural, and so much better. At least in my opinion. :)

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  10. nuts to classy--you're far more interesting, just like all the really good heroines in the Judy Blume books, and Ramona of Beezus and Ramona fame.

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  11. You are hilarious. That was a much need laugh out loud! Fun is way better than boring classy. And last night, my hubs looked down my shirt, and found an orange peel!!! HAHA, I didn't realize it, but the baby dropped in down there! :P

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  12. Even though a "fun" girl could mean many different things (especially in high school), I would much rather have a fun girl as a friend than someone who was just "classy" (ESPECIALLY if she shaves her legs dry!).
    Classy girls don't fart, they express themselves rectally.

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  13. i'm glad to have some low class friends too. although the classy ones are probably good for me since they make me think about my actions & words rather than just blurting out any old nasty thing.
    danielle, that's hilarious about the organge peel!

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  14. @creatingme: For a minute I got confused (easily done). I read where your husband found an orange peel in your shirt. Then, I read, "I didn't realize it, but the baby dropped in down there." So, was it a tasty orange citrus (made all the more so by LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!) or a child wanting to return to the dairy?
    As I pondered further, I then got the meaning.
    Whew!

    Sheriln: I now return you to your blog.

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  15. Classy is over-rated, it's much better to be fun.

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  16. I'll take 'fun' over 'classy' any day of the week!

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  17. Classy is old news:) Fun is the new skinny, so embrace it! hi hi Loved your post and I'm so glad I discovered your blog. I am now following you thanks to Best Post of The Week, and it would be so nice if you could share the love back on my blog;)
    Also today we have the coolest blog hop there is... no rules just fun and would love you to join in with us at Boost My Blog Friday, where you can meet lots of friends and have a great time:) See you there!
    Happy Friday

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  18. So funneeee! The red bra shot takes the cake. Forget classy, you rock!
    Sandra
    Following from Fri Blog Hop

    www.reallifeinaminute.blogspot.com

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  19. Cute Blog! I was always the fun girl as well! I’m a new follower Happy Friday!! I would love for you to stop and take a look at my blog as well! Thanks!
    http://heavenlysavings.blogspot.com

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  20. classy girl + fun girl makes the best combination anyways. you need both

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  21. Well, perhaps if I had to choose, I'd choose FUN over classy.
    what's classy for one person may not be classy for another........but hey, FUN IS FUN!!!

    so keep it up

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  22. Hey, it's better to be charming. You can be awkward and clumsy and loud and still have some charm, you know?! Classy could be too boring.

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  23. I could have written this post. I am SO glad you are not classy. Your blog would definitely not be as funny. Nope.

    Just for the record- I hate 2 elephant portions of nachos for first dinner and dug into my bra for a popcorn kernel about 20 minutes ago...classy.

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  24. Yup, definitely better to be who you are. I have no idea what people think of me, but I wouldn't turn down "fun" in favour of classy.

    "then i find myself digging a bug out of my cleavage in a very public place" This made me chuckle.

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  25. Embrace your unclassy, I do and I'm way, way, way happier for it. I could say something dirty here but that would be wrong.

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  26. I take fun over classy any day of the week. There are a few girls around my area that think classy means stuck up royal bitch and I don't care for that too much.

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  27. hahah love it! I am definitely not "classy", either, but I'm with Eva when she said that "fun is much more fun!"
    I also love the way Rachel uses the word classy, in a decidedly sarcastic way. Sarcastic class is best.

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  28. Definately fun girls are better to have around. Classy is not going to make you laugh when you found out your boyfriend dumped you, classy is not going to be there when you embarrass yourself in front of the cutest boys in school. Fun is the best way to be.

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don't let me be the only one doing the talking around here. spill your guts!