Banana Slugs are Weird
"Grateful Slug" Courtesy of amelrose
In high school our mascot was a wild mustang. By college we sported a cougar. So when he told me his university sported a slug as its mascot, I wondered if I had missed something.
"We had the Banana Slug." He didn't crack a smile. I, of course, chortled.
"A Banana Slug? How did that get picked?" Honestly, I really didn't know much about slugs. I assumed they were like the snails I used to toss against the wall in the backyard behind the orange tree.
"They are everywhere and they are kinda fun."
"Fun? How can a slimy creature be fun?"
"Well, I suppose we made them fun by dressing our mascot up in a tie-dye shirt. But, that's how it is at UC Santa Cruz. We embrace the weird."
Weird, was right. The mascot looked more like an alien than a slimy banana with yellow-tipped tentacles and googly eyes. I did admit the alien in a tie-dye shirt was rockin' it.
The rest of the group had normal mascots like ducks, bears, or cartoon characters. Everyone wanted to know more about the slugs. A pretty effective recruiting tool for the university.
Copyright © 2019 Michael Shawn Sommermeyer
I would fit in perfectly St that school, cuz I'm sloooooo...
🌳Uncle Bruni leafing today's prompt 🌳
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-538-5-minute-freewrite-thursday-prompt-shade
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Sometimes you have to embrace yourself with a pot of tea. I wrote today's conversation with you in mind: https://steemit.com/freewrite/@wordymouth/100-degrees-in-the-shade
I had to Google that to find out if you were stringin' us along. But it's all true! I am properly astonished.
I honestly thought the same thing when Michael Green told me about his days at Santa Cruz. I thought there is no way a school would have a slimy critter as its mascot. I was wrong. And these were the days before Google; I had to find an encyclopedia.
Banana slug!.. It's pretty inventive and cool. I guess it's because i like weird. 😀