Hokey or not?

Today I walked down the hall to eat my lunch on my favorite bench that overlooks Lobby 7 at MIT. I heard classical cello music and assumed there was a concert in the lobby (there is always something going on at MIT!). When I looked over the balcony I saw a couple eating lunch at a small table in the middle of the lobby and the cellist playing next to them. There were nice dishes, wine glasses, a table cloth, flowers, and what appeared to be a fancy meal. And lovely music. [I took a crappy picture with my camera phone that I may post later...maybe I do want to keep the small digital camera with the magnetized case afterall...] It seemed so clever, romantic, and well, cool. There were lots of people watching them from the balconies and listening to the music.

As I listened to the cello music and ate my lunch (without fancy dishes and table cloth) I reminisced about my days at BYU. Students did the craziest stuff on dates, to invite someone on a date (or "Preference" the girls' choice dance) or to propose marriage. There were meals on a grassy median, homemade messages in fortune cookies, scavenger hunts, clues in food, police pulling people over and pretending to arrest someone which turned into a wedding proposal (only at BYU...), invitations spelled out in candy bars, etc. I can't remember how I asked a guy to Preference my sophomore year but am embarrassed to say that I asked him to toilet paper the tree outside my window and make up a song (or was it a serenade?) if he could go with me (I have it on a cassette tape somewhere around here). Now that's hokey. After all that, he had to cancel and I asked another guy. There was no hokey invite for the second choice; just a simple phone call.