How to tell you've been in guard too long... back to fun junk
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You spin anything you can get your hands on.
You spin pens.
You spin brooms/mops/etc.
You spin broken parts of chairs.
You go to attention when someone claps in the hallways.
Five hours of practice is a blessing.
Your light fixture in your room is permanently broken.
You've replaced more light bulbs in your room than you can count.
All your favorite songs have this one part that would be perfect for insert move here
You have had more injuries than you'd like to remember... or that you can remember.
All the work your captain/coach writes, you've done before... They start recycling your work from other shows.
You can't watch someone else spin next to you without spinning yourself.
You name your equipment.
You name your drill spots.
As soon as you step onto a football field, you put your head up and smile at the bleachers, whether or not anyone is there.
You can't name all the shows you've done.
You can't remember the work from the last show you did.
The words "free time" have lost all meaning to you.
The band hall is your second home.
You have a drawer full of guard tee-shirts.
Flannel pants are you favorite piece of clothing.
All your guard gloves have holes in the palms.
You don't go one day without spinning.
Doing only 200 drop spins at practice is a blessing.
You've run more laps than the track team.
You practice more than the cheerleaders (and still get no credit for it).
You're proud to be called a band fag.
You've slept in the band room.
You've gotten undressed in the band room.
Your principal has seen you without pants on.
The entire band has seen you without pants on.
You'd be at practice, even if you have pneumonia. And you'd be smiling.
When people on TV march, you cringe if they're out of step.
You know that "one more time" never means one more time.
After practice, you hang out in the band room to chat with your fellow guard members.
You've seen 3 in the morning.
When you get home at 1 a.m., you are ecstatic.
Your personal motto is "Guard is Life".
After high school, you march in college, drum corps, winter guard, etc....
Skin tight spandex doesn't faze you anymore.
You've performed at 8 pep rallies, although you've never been a part of one.
You sing songs you've performed to every day of your life.
You've dated/had a crush on a band member.
You have so many inside jokes with members of your guard, that you laugh at almost anything that anyone says, because you have a joke about it. (And yet again, you wonder why people look at you funny.)
You and your friends repeat the same phrases over and over.
When one member gets sick, you all get sick.
You all get your period at the same time.
You could make one of these lists with little to no effort.
You have a permanent glove tan.
You start finishing sentences for fellow guard members.
You're not a hooker, but your knees are so bruised, they look like you could be.
You own at least one broadway soundtrack, and could probably write a show to one or more songs on that soundtrack.
When you learn to yell back at the football team.
You date a member of another marching band.
You go to competitions for the sole purpose of finding a date from another marching band.
When you scream at the gym teachers "Color guard is a sport!!"and they agree with you, thereby letting you sit out from running the mile.
Your parents lock up all the brooms/pool cues/umbrellas/etc.
You can do your hair anywhere.
You can change into your uniform anywhere.
You laugh like everyone else on your guard.
You spend more time in the band hall than in your house.
Your guard has developed its own language.
You went to every school football game but never paid for one.
You can arm wrestle anyone and win.
When you get teary-eyed when you have to put your flag down so you can eat dinner.
When you spend all your free time looking for guard-related websites.
When people ask about bruises you didn't even notice you had.
When you look for guards in commercials and movies (in Never Been Kissed, they show a guard when her car is in the football field!)
When you insist that your crutches will not affect your marching ability. What do you mean I can't spin with broken arms??!
When you catch yourself switching feet to get back on-step with the background music in the mall.
When you can never be fashionably late, because you show up for everything at least 15 minutes early.
When vending machine food becomes gourmet.
When you use guard tape to fix everything.
When "Five more minutes, Dad", turns into a midnight practice.
You take over guys bathroom when the girls bathroom is full.
You say the pledge of allegiance to your flag.
While your non-guard friends sleep with teddy bears and other various stuffed animals, you sleep with your flag (and find nothing unhealthy about it, thank you).