No Male Dancer

Another October, another dance season on the verge of beginning!  Oh it's been so long since I've danced in a line!  Another sign that dance season is approaching?  It was raining.  It always rains when I have to drive to dancing.  Because S couldn't make it to registration, Eddie came with me.  They have weird rules, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to register two people.  I figured Eddie could just hand in the second registration form.  They don't really read the name.  They just look at the check.

We walked in and the first people I saw were the Clique.  The most outspoken one spoke first, not surprisingly. She loudly asked, Is that your new dance partner???  She was pointing at Eddie.  He said nothing of course.  I said, No he's just here for the ride.  Then she and the quiet one who S calls Jan said something about no men in the class.  We all agreed that the guys never last.  Then Brown--the one me and S call Brown because she always wears brown--laughed, about a beat behind.  Then we awkwardly walked to the registration table where I saw people showing their IDs.

Shit.  ID?  Really?  Since when did they decide to do that?  Eddie's ID was not going to match what I wrote down as S's information.  So I texted S to tell her we might have a problem.  While I waited for an answer, I filled out both forms.  Well, I started to, but then my pen ran out.  I asked Eddie if he had a pen.  Nope.  Some woman had been filling out a form next to me, complaining that the registration people thought she was going to steal their pen, so I didn't want to ask them.  A woman next to Eddie offered to lend hers. That was nice.  I filled out my own form and a check for me and a form for S.  I figured she might be able to bring it back if I couldn't do it.  I gave the woman back her pen and then waited at the table.  They were calling numbers of people on line to sign up but they had already passed mine somehow.

I gave my form and check to the woman who asked me for my ID.  I then explained that my friend got stuck at work and I was going to register her but I obviously didn't have her ID.  They said, Oh that's okay, you can register her.  Then the woman got a little annoyed, saying I could have written one check, but since I would have written two checks anyway, I kind of didn't even let her finished because I quickly said, Okay I'll write another check and may I borrow this pen and I'll bring it right back!

The pen?  Didn't work.  I placed it back on the table in front of them and was like, This pen is dead, just to let you know, so I'll go fill this out over there.  I pointed to the original table I'd been at.  It was full of pencils.  Can you write out a check with a pencil?  I don't think that's legal.  Eddie still didn't have a pen and mine still wasn't working, so I sat next to the woman and asked her if I could borrow her pen again. Who knew this was going to be such a production?  The woman made me realize I wasn't the only one with problems.  She said, Sure don't worry about it because I couldn't fill out the form right at first.  Phew, I wasn't the only one in a little chaos. 

I finally filled out the second check and went to hand in the registration form.  It was then that my phone started buzzing.  I had lost service so my text had just gone through to S and she'd left a voicemail and two text messages.  Instead of checking them first, I handed the form to the guy at the table.  The form has a place for a signature, too, which I left blank since I'm not S.  The man had no problem making a scribble in that blank immediately as if it were signed.  He handed me the receipt and I told Eddie we were done.

I waved at the Clique on the way out.  We said we'd see each other next week.  Eddie asked, So are those your dance friends? as we made our way down the stairs to the parking lot.  Friends?  Hahhahahahhahaaaa.  I said, Sort of--they're the women who dance a lot. 

I texted S back that we were able to get it all done despite the ridiculousness.  Why were they checking IDs if I was able to sign up someone not there?  Why was there a space for a signature if a scribble by a stranger would do?  It was very weird.  Still, I came home beaming.  We'll be dancing soon!  Class starts at 8!  Meaning Jean will start at 7:51 sharp!