Student column: Not your typical grind

By Brooke Urzendowski

I was minding my own business, dancing among a mob of students in the sheer darkness of the ballroom when I saw it.

I stopped mid-step and cringed in disgust. Just three feet in front of me was a line of four students -- dare I say -- grinding.

My friends and I entered the Holiday Inn ballroom in high spirits for the camp dance Tuesday night, slowly coming out of our shell with each passing song. As soon as I felt completely comfortable busting a move in the swarm of students, these so called grinders invaded.

In case you have had the fortune of never crossing paths with a grinder, I envy you. Slowly moving their sweaty bodies against each other’s in a type of dirty dancing motion, this type of dance is typical of your average high school. Classy. I felt safe that this sort of dancing would be far away from journalism camp.

Big mistake.

As soon as my eyes spotted the row of four students participating in a so-called “grind train” I was shocked. I expected this kind of thing from any normal high school dance, but here? I felt confident that my fellow journalism campmates shared the same distaste for this type of degrading dance as I did.

Don’t get me wrong, I love blaring music, flashing lights and letting loose with your friends at a dance as much as the next teenager, but there is something about grinding that just doesn’t sit right with me. Why must we press our bodies together ever so tightly, swaying to the music provocatively, to have a good time? What is wrong with dancing to your own beat while still maintaining your personal space and dignity?

Grinders are always lurking and almost impossible to avoid. But let’s not belittle ourselves so much as to participate in their form of casual dancing. I embrace the days where respect wasn’t just a term used to refer to the ever so popular Aretha Franklin song. I can only imagine the look on the grinder’s face if the DJ threw this song into the mix every once in a while.

I’m not saying we should keep a 5-foot distance of personal space while we dance. But I would like to enjoy my time with friends without being pummeled by a moving “grind train.” Aretha put it best when she dared to say, “All I’m asking is for a little respect.”

Brooke Urzendowski is a senior at Marian High School and a student in the advanced writing class at the Flint Hills Publications Workshop.