The Penn Band Experience (tm): Proof that all flutes think alike

Saturday was my last football game as an undergraduate (yes, I am completely aware that it will never be my "last" game, but in terms of my undergraduate career at Penn, this was my last game). I have to admit that it was really exciting to hear my name read over the speakers of Franklin Field. My non-band friends in attendance thought that the show was really entertaining.

Pictured above: Most of the Penn Band Class of 2008 with the Quaker
(From l-r, front: Connie, Melanie, Brooke, Janelle. back: Shannon, Megan, Sofie, Raimy, the Quaker, Annabelle)

My favorite moment of the game, though, had nothing to do with football - hey, I still don't understand the sport, after four years in the band. To set the story up for those of you that are not currently in the band or have somehow stumbled upon this blog, Joe, a sophomore trumpet player, has a tendency to shout "Eat It!" whenever Penn does something good, the opposing team does something stupid or wrong, or just about any other context you could possibly imagine. At a flute section dinner on Friday night, a few of us decided that we should make signs that say "Eat it" and hold them up to the trumpets every time Joe says the phrase - we cut out each letter in pink construction paper, mounted it on a white or black background, and glued it to cardboard. The exclamation point was dotted with a heart and covered in glitter, and since there were 7 of us and only six letters/punctuation marks, we also cut a larger heart out of construction paper and used that as the space between the two words. There was obviously no other way to make the statement flute-ish or feminine than by making it pink and glittery.

Little did we expect that when we got to the game, two of the freshman flutes that had not been with us the previous night and were not aware of the signs, had done something similar on their own! Cindy, whose uncle made the shirts, and Andrea were wearing bright red t-shirts, one that said "EAT" and the other which said "IT". Proof that all flutes think alike.

The flutes sit in the second row, behind the drummers, so most of the band got a good view of the signs/shirts when we held them up behind us after Joe had screamed his signature phrase. After the signs and shirts had been unveiled, everyone started laughing, and most of the band chanted "Flutes! Flutes! Flutes!" Never in my life did I imagine that the chops and low brass would be cheering for the flutes at a football game... or ever, for that matter.