Enough already. Just because we’re both Jewish, it doesn’t mean I want to hear about your “life-changing” past Jewish experiences all the time.
People have to stop talking about their camps and youth groups (unless they are the same ones I went to). Seriously, we are in college. We’re adults, and high school is a thing of the past. So stop making me sit through stories about your camp (except if I also went there and have stories to go with them).
College is the time for learning and doing new things. We all want to do important things when we graduate, and we’re here to learn how. So why am I supposed to care that you happened to be on board of your youth group? (Unless it was my youth group, in which case, let’s share tips and stories about conventions!)
Honestly, we all need to move on. I mean, what even is the point of Jewish Geography? So we’ll realize we know someone in common that neither of us is close to and then what? Neither of us will tell that person? Why is that worth my time? (Unless it turns out that we went to the same summer leadership program a year apart so we might have actually had the same counselors! How cool would that be?? Ok you open Facebook and I’ll pull up Instagram and we’ll see our mutuals!) Like, we get it. We all know people in common. It’s not exciting anymore (except what if we were actually at the same bat mitzvah in 2011 before we knew each other??)
My point is this. Lots of people went to camp. Tons of us went to conventions and conferences and shabbatons in high school. I really don’t have the patience to hear about yours anymore, and the sanity of our whole community will be better if we all agree to just let the past be the past (unless you maybe want to plan to both wear our camp shirts on the same day? Yeah no you’re right that would probably too much. Let’s just spend the next hour going through my youth group photos, which you aren’t even in, but maybe if you were 2 years older we might have gone to the same event that one time!)
Grow up, guys. Really. It’s not always about you.
This piece was written by Liana Slomka, a 9-year camper and 4-year counselor at Ramah Darom, and 2-year BBYO Greater Atlanta Regional board member. (Email official.theschmear@gmail.com if you think you have a connection with her! If not, then please don’t fucking email her!)
Feature image via Becket Chimney Corners YMCA, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
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