JAPE

February 5, 2010

Jape
\’jap\ v : 1: to say or do something jokingly or mockingly 2: to make mocking fun of

Nicknames can be great tools to wield affection. I have many for my friends, some of them have a story, some of them don’t, but each of them sticking and being used interchangeably; all except one. Goody Gillman.
It was junior year in high school and we were making our way to English class. Ordinarily, I loved English and that class in particular as we finally had a teacher who was invested in her students, yet this year was hard as the Regents was looming on the horizon waiting to ruin our lives and brains forever. (ok, I know I tend to get dramatic sometimes). I digress; my good friend and I were climbing the stairs and chatting away about the latest books we had read, mine being a thriller by Mary Higgins Clark, hers being the newest installment in the vampire LeStadt series. We entered the classroom and continued our riveting tales of child kidnappers and sucking one’s blood just for pure joy when our teacher cleared her throat and began class. We were to pick up where we left off in The Crucible (yes ladies, swooning over Daniel Day-Lewis is now allowed).
Ms. V. had just assigned roles to a few of us in the class; learning is always more fun when it’s interactive. We made our way through the introduction of the characters and as we came to the women, we noticed that each was addressed as Goody so and so. We all thought that was so weird and were chuckling among ourselves when, to quiet us down, Ms. V. presumed to point to my friend sitting in the front seat and say “It’s as if I were to call you Goody Gillman.” Well I found that so funny, I started to laugh and for the rest of the day, I japed her (in good fun of course). Goody Gillman, do you know the rest of the dance for rehearsal, Goody Gillman, are you buying lunch today, Goody Gillman do you want a ride home? Goody Gillman- until she smacked me.
All I have to say is, when my friend gets married and my affectionate verbiage is retired, it will make me tear, however she will always be Goody Gillman to me.