Mono

The Mono Story

by Gregory Turley

It was April senior year in the 80s.  We had gone "Down the Road" to Sweet Briar College for some type of mixer/outdoor band.  As usual we just showed up.  No dates, no tickets, no notice. Hard to remember who actually went but I expect Grant drove.  As he used to say about the 1980 Mustang - "better than you've got".

I recall that I had been left at  Sweet Briar due to my drunkenness earlier that school year and had to beg a ride back to Lexington the next day.  A bad scene and so I didn't want that to happen again.  I was not going to be Left Behind again.

At the event, the only young woman I connected with was someone who had previously gone out with my friend Rob.   Funny that I can't remember her name - I'll call her Mary for reasons you will find.

As these college parties went, we had no better prospects than each other that day which turned into night.  The afternoon party turned into the evening and we started holding hands (cute, eh?) and then went back to her dorm where there was a "Hall Party" going on. 

For those who don't know, the Hall Party was a kind of open door event where you could wander from room to room.  Lots of drinking and smoking, and the beds were right there.   Back in those days there was no dorm security at all.  At those All Woman colleges, they liked having a stream of men coming to their dorms.  There were no proctors, curfews, security cameras, key cards.  

  Generally we men either left in a timely manner or were cordially invited to spend the night.

So it was pretty early that night - 8:30 p.m.? when we closed the door to her room.  After a fair amount of groping around in the dark, I realized 3 things:

1.  I didn't even like Mary

2.  And Mary didn't like me - in fact she was questioning me about Rob... "Why doesn't Rob like me?"  No good answer for that.

3.  The clock was ticking and I didn't want to get left there again... particularly with Mary.  I was somewhat drunk and so was she.

There were of course no cell phones then.  So I had to excuse myself, as Mary was lying there in a state of  undress.  Just like in a movie, she looked at me like, "You're leaving now?  But I had to get out and find Grant and recover my ride back.  I thought I was doing the right thing.

Fortunately I did find him as the Hall Party was going on.  I was determined to stick with him which I did.  And I made it back to Lexington.  I seem to recall Mary coming down the hall later and upon seeing me still there, giving me a dirty look. 

Mary got her revenge on me.  I started feeling bad and went to the college Infirmary (can you believe that is what we called it then?)  It was in the basement of the oldest dorm on campus and looked straight out of the 1950s.  There, the doctor (and he was a doctor) said that I had both mononucleosis AND strep throat.  Being 21 years old, I was out for a day and a half and then back at it. 

I was of course embarrassed at catching these ailments from Mary - plus the fact that I was supposed to be dating someone else who was gone for the weekend - so I couldn't tell her how I caught this Kissing Disease - like she couldn't figure it out herself.

Today, I found out that my cousin  who is 15 years old now has mononucleosis and has to cancel his trip overseas.  Hearing about "Mono" from his mother brought back this college memory. 

I can imagine how he feels physically - I've been there.  That was no fun.    I hope that if he caught it from someone that he at least liked her a bit - or knew her for more than 2 hours beforehand.

                                             

February 7, 2017