Jersey Girls 2.0

On a warm spring Saturday afternoon my wife hands me my pre-arranged driving instructions: I am to pick up my daughter and three of her classmates from a birthday party at a festive beauty salon just for girls near the center of Millburn and take them to their Lacrosse game in Summit.  

When I arrive my daughter and her party-going friends are being made up. All around me is the stuff of girls: glitter and ringlets and sequined t-shirts and painted nails and the incessant chatter of indomitable female energy.  I am but a party-crashing chauffeur from the alien land of Dad. 

With a little prodding, the girls grab their sports bags and lacrosse sticks and giggle their way to the car as they discuss some defenseless boy who has trouble with math and wears the same shirt everyday. 

From the backseat they politely instruct me to change the radio station in a reassuring manner which suggests I have no taste in music.  Soon a thumping pop song has them crooning and bouncing under the constraint of their seat belts.  Propelled by the music they roll down the rear windows and wave at complete strangers, laughing with every startled hand that returns their uninhibited greeting.  “Honk the horn!” they scream.  I do, because their rolling party is infectious.

Before long I pull into the parking lot next to Tatlock; the girls fall out and sprint onto the field instantly donning their no-prisoner game faces.  Their lacrosse sticks waggle with vigor and purpose around their energetic bodies.  Their newly coiled locks bounce uncontrollably behind them as they run, and in the bright sunlight I notice that their nails have been thoughtfully decorated to harmonize with their maroon jerseys. 

I think to myself, these women will rule the world one day.  Their sun-kissed faces say “Look at me!”  Their grass-stained uniforms say, “I’m from Summit!” Their confident attitude says, “You got a problem with that?”  Their proud lips say, “We win!”  And their enticing energy says, “Woo Hoo, let’s party!”   

I don’t know if this qualifies them to be Jersey Girls, but I sure hope so.