As I walked through the long hallway on the first floor of Young Hall, I spied a blotchy brown stain on the tile. Ew, what is that? Is it coffee? Who spilled it? Did it happen this morning? Somebody just lost their whole order of coffee. Who's going to clean it up? How many coffees was that? Who is walking around this morning, not only crying over their spilled coffee, but extra cranky because they missed their daily shot of caffeine? All in the span of about 10 seconds.
Guys (meaning non-uterus-carrying-human-beings), please excuse this brief moment of TMI.
Driving to school today, I thought about the universal reality of the very first period. Every girl goes through it. Though there are many shared responses to the event (What did you do with the soiled panties? Did you hide it? Throw it away? Wash it? Burn it?), revelations on the occurance can vary. "I thought I was dying." "I thought I'd gone to the bathroom in my underwear." "I knew exactly what it was." I also wondered, what are the different responses to this momentous advent into womanhood in different cultures? in different time periods? In different families? For some, it means another additional expense added to the costly job of raising a girl child. For others, it is a chance to celebrate an adolescent's entrance into adult society. And others, it is the time to find a husband and be married off. All in the span of about 20 seconds.
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