A long time ago, far far away, three college girls broke up with their boyfriends during exam time (i.e. no sleep) and were commiserating with each other. During their (admittedly random) discourse, when, after trying to burn some of their papers and consequently getting smoked out of their apartment due to a an ill-advised non opening of the chimney flue, they decided that were so few good men around, and that perhaps, just perhaps, they should be proactive in saving the ones that were left. Keeping in mind exams and lack of sleep, they decided that the best way to save one of the best men that they knew (Tall Dave) would be to make signs and chalk the street between his apartment and the main exam hall, and put flyers around the more populous places on the rest their college grounds with inspiring slogans like: "For only 23 cents a day, you too can Save Tall Dave!" and "Remember the Alamo! Save Tall Dave!"
At 2 am, this idea did in fact seem brilliant, and it wasn't as if they could re-enter their apartment until the smoke disappated anyway. So thus, on one cold December night, Save Tall Dave (STD!) was born. Also, realizing that the acronym for Save Tall Dave was indeed STD provided hours of entertainment, and more slogans along the lines of: "It's not just an STD! Save Tall Dave!"
And here we are today! While there has often been talk of a newsletter or a formal campaign, Save Tall Dave has been more of a grassroots movement of the people. So far, he's been saved on 5 continents and numerous locales.
So to Tall Dave--we, and the Uffizi Bathroom, say Thank You for being awesome! And for letting us save you all these years.
Bravo!!!
8 comments:
An official STD mission statement has been a long time coming…perhaps you should expect a surge in membership as the word gets out. So I have to say that as far as memorable (and fun and flattering) experiences in college go, Save Tall Dave has to be at the top of the list for me. It’s certainly a better story than most things that happened to me. I mean, come on, with slogans like “Tampax was there! Save Tall Dave” found along my path to class, it was bound to make my day a bit more interesting to say the least. It even granted me some degree of notoriety/fame. Once I was called from across a room as, of course, “TallDave.” A casual acquaintance of mine from a class suddenly blurted out, “wait, you’re THAT Dave! I always wondered who the hell that was.” So all in all, there were hours of entertainment on this end too.
There is, however, one remaining question that has never been answered to my satisfaction: what are the criteria for having been successfully “saved”? This question is being asked by those around me…mostly by Mrs. Tall Dave. She wants to know whether her status has contributed to me being “saved”, or whether she should be considered the arch-enemy of the STD central committee since she has “taken” me from the pool of available men? This is an important question.
Heehee.
I distinctly remember chalking the Tampax slogan in front of Cocke Hall. I also remember saving Tall Dave by an Italian bidet. Both of those statements may seem dirtier than intended. But though saving Tall Dave can be a dirty job, someone has to do it!!
Wes--I have found the backpack shack!! I knew that the sketchiness looked familiar!!
I still like: "Don't be a knave, save Tall Dave!" with a shout-out to the fencing team. Also, I loved it when the cop drove by and someone cried, "OMG! A cop! Act natural!"...upon which we all proceeded to continue standing in the middle of the (chalked) road but not look at each other.
Subtlety. We has it.
btw, this is Haley :)
I concur with Tall Dave-- I now understand a whole myriad of photos from S. Africa and other places around the globe. I was going to ask when I first saw them, but didn't want to be intrusive-- besides, figured I'd find out in due time-- when least expected. Am also eager to hear the answer to Mrs. Tall Dave's query... Now Mims, you do know you're supposed to chime in to the comments every now and then-- especially since thanks to your ipod, you should have more free time on your hands now.
Apparently Christie's work in India has paid off. They now have STD stands all over the country and even at the airport! South Africa still hasn't caught on, but I'm expecting big things from Italy.
I think we have cleared up TD's questions completely. He is now a figurehead and a symbol of the movement, versus an actual man who needs saving. After a convening of the STD Council (names are kept secret), it has been decided that while the STD movement marches on, Tall Dave need only be present in person for the occasional Rally or Religious ceremony.
Christie.
Post a Comment