A Not So Casual Event

So last night I decided to take up my Industrial Organization professor's invitation to a "casual" event for extra credit points. The Dean of Purdue's Technology Department was giving a presentation on technology and the future, and all I had to do was show up with a smile. I knew something was up when I walked in half an hour early and was greeted with a handshake and a name tag. Do people shake hands at causal events? Oh, I suppose so out of courtesy, but these folks were wearing suits and ties! "Casual" to me implies jeans and tennis shoes, though I thought I would be upscale casual in khakis and a plain burgundy short-sleeve shirt.

Wrong.

I felt like white trash as numerous professors and various university representatives filed in with their black and gold attire--university colors of course. The event was supposed to start at 5:30pm, so I ducked into the conference room and found myself a place in the back row. I should have known, as well, that it was going to be a different kind of event when I was the only one in the room and all the official types were milling around the massive display of food for 45 minutes. The greeter lady who approached me with a name tag peeked in on me four times in that duration to ask if I was sure I didn't want anything to eat.

I just wanted to get the show on the road, but a good thing came out of it: Chuck.

Chuck was the only other student to show up. I hadn't recognized him from our IET class, but he recognized me as "the girl without a book." I thought I was underdressed, but this guy was wearing denim shorts and flip flops, so I felt somewhat better. We sat in the back of the room until about 6:20pm when the bigwhigs filtered in from the lobby, and during that time, I was fascinated to learn about my colleague. He's a 48 year old man laid off from work and just started his first semester of college. After much discussion, it turned out he had been friends with my husband's former in-laws. Small world.

To make a long 45 minutes short, we both excused ourselves when we found our professor (had to check in for the e.c.) and exited the conference. Though I was embarrassed about my appearance, I was even more embarrassed to walk out. But I had to be somewhere at 7pm so it was my own fault for overbooking my evening. It's just that when they say a person is speaking at 5:30pm, I'm thinking that doesn't include a full meal beforehand.

Oh well.