Life of Wry

The funny little aspect of Grad Night planning that I will come to remember, for no particularly relevant reason, other than the fact it just always comes up, is the sea crates. (I’d say is the sea crate, but there are three of them.)

From my first Grad Night committee meeting back in January, and every meeting hence, to countless emails, all roads lead to the sea crates: When are the sea crates going to be opened? Has Casino found the poker chips yet in the sea crates? Who has the spare keys to the sea crates? Will the sea crates be open on Grad Night? Have you told your people about the next opening of the sea crates?

I had no idea what a sea crate was (other than one of those giant metal containers you see getting loaded onto transoceanic barges by towering cranes down at major sea ports and harbors).

Which is exactly what they are, except the three in question live permanently on terra firma behind Emerson Junior High and they are never going to get loaded onto a sea-bound vessel. These crates do contain an enormous volume of stuff–every set piece, every piece of furniture, all supplies from boxer shorts to the aforementioned poker chips, to fake potted plants, to mini-golf courses, to pillars, to columns, to giant stars broken down into segments carry-able by Grad Night parent volunteers on the decorating committee.

Anyway, as the chair of a committee of committees, each with its own chair and large volunteer crew, I’m supposed to show up at every opening to assist my people with whatever they need. Tonight was such an opening.

I don’t want to comment on the thick layers of sometimes-redundant bureaucracy that is the annual Grad Night extravaganza, and why I have to be present at each opening (and end up doing very little of anything when I’m there), I really just wanted to post a photo of what a sea crate looks like.

What do you think–eyeballing here–about 8′ x 8′ x 20′ maybe? They hold a jaw dropping amount of stuff.

And these openings are quite the events, I have to say.