Shifting gears

During my first week in law school, I discovered that one of my undergraduate professors was a fellow student. He was one of those cute professors that impressionable college students have crushes on, so one would think that I'd enjoy the opportunity to relate to him as a peer. The context had changed; I should have shifted gears. But having spent two years addressing him as "Professor So-and-So" (to his face, anyway), I simply could not bring myself to call him by his first name. Instead, I spent the next nine months addressing him as, "Hey... you..."

When I have friends or acquaintances over to my home, I would never even consider stripping down to my skivvies and applying lotion in their presence. I think most people would agree that such behavior would be... scandalous. Most people would probably also conclude that if you simply add a couple of dozen strangers and a pool of chlorinated water, and rename your undergarments "bikini", then such behavior would be perfectly acceptable. But having spent most of my life fully dressed in front of people who are not intimates or emergency medical personnel, I simply could not bring myself to participate in public disrobing and lotion application. Instead, I spent a day by the pool, clothed and averting my eyes from my nearly naked friends.

I can get used to sharing buses with chickens and civil litigation without any pre-trial discovery, but I can't handle pool-side normalcy. I just can't.