I rode B2 to Port Dover yesterday to meet my oldest friend for perch and celery bread. By oldest I mean Corinne and I go back, way back, to our high school days.
It was a lovely ride on a beautiful day. Dover is, of course, well known for its ability to draw motorcycle riders to its shore on a Friday the 13th, something I don’t attend. Crowds are the opposite of a magnet where I’m concerned. But I hadn’t been to Dover in many years and pulling into the pretty town I noticed a phenomenon. Teenage girls. Gaggles of them, bikini-clad and shivering, crossing streets in clusters and generally milling about. It was 11:20 am on a Friday. Shouldn’t they be in school?
The London Free Press cracked the mystery this morning. It’s a phenomenon called Beach Fridays during which high school seniors who have already been accepted to college or university bail on their Friday classes. It’s apparently swiffering towns and cities within driving distance of a sandy shore. The students reason that their teachers are also phoning it in while they’re in early summer mode. The kids have earned their entry into higher ed so why waste a precious, pretty Friday in a classroom?
At Dover yesterday they were all about the beach, lined up to buy suntan oil (the skin cancer message is not getting through!) and skittering about on a day that wasn’t quite warm enough to be wearing so little. I have to admire their logic, actually. Life is short. Hit the beach when you can!