UChicago in NYC

I might not have been quite such an avid, if inadvertent, haggler had I not gone to the New York UChicago alumni party, where drinks were a whopping $11. Welcome to NYC, Chicagoans, and get ready to spend more on a night of drinks than you did at Jimmy's your entire time in Hyde Park. The veteran New Yorkers in the crowd assured the newbies that drinks are not usually this expensive. I mean, it was sort of pathetic, given that a) this was for young alums, not all of whom had the good sense to major in economics, b) any event filled with people you kind of remember but not really is one where it's best to go one drink over your usual, and most importantly, c) this event was many people's first impression of the University of Chicago as an alum, and if there was a time for the University, Alumni Association, or whichever entity to splurge, this would have been it. I brought along two non-UChicago guests, one of whom, much to my amusement, referred to the UChicago newspaper as "The Crimson." I'm pretty sure at least a third of those present are now in therapy.

One thing I did get out of the event was that you're supposed to network. A key part of this "networking" thing is that you're supposed to have a business card. I do not have a business card, although I learned from a bona fide Rhodes Scholar (and UChicago alum!) that it's perfectly acceptable for graduate students to have business cards. And that's just what I'll be in a little over a month, which sheds some light on why I'm not currently signing up for the IDF, much as I'm tempted to at the moment.