The Yahs

OK, give me some credit. I have been writing this for a few months now and I haven't touched upon this subject yet. It would have been the self-evident thing to do, really: such an enormously big component of the student community, so much room for parody. Indeed, they already are parodies of themselves...

My early days observing the yahs were both amusing and disturbing. High on the list was a conversation I overheard outside the Union: "Yah mate, our flat is such a mess right now...like, yah, there's champagne all over the ceiling." Most recently I was standing in line at an ATM: two girls, one of them getting money out for the night. Girl 1: "So, how much should I get? £500?" Girl 2: "That's a little too much don't you think?" Girl 1: "You're right. £250?" I really do wonder where they were heading out to...

My best yah moment was, of course, interviewing Matt Lacey for The Saint last year. Such a win. He definitely tops all my yah stories, serious quality. I have, of course, come across my fair share of 'gap yah' stories here too; "Africa girl" stands out for commenting on how, when "she was there [Africa...just, Africa], although people were so poor there were always happy...and they never smacked their children". Read and rejoice. 

A close encounter of the third kind with a yah at the bus stop: I was on my way to horse-back riding, and in my full-on riding outfit. Guy approaches me: "Sorry. I was just wondering, does the University have a riding team?" Me: "Yes, we sure do. But I'm not part of it." Guy: "OK, fair enough. Does the University have a Polo team?" Me: "Yes, yes it does." Guy" "OK, great. And do you like the riding school here?" Me: "Yes, it's really great." Guy: "Thanks!" At this point I thought this had been a pleasant exchange of information. Guy: "Oh, just one more question. Did you bring your own horse?" Me: *repressed horror/laughter* "No. No I didn't..." This has been making me question if I really do like riding, after all.

Most recently, it has been incredibly interesting to see how yahs cope with fourth year. A girl posed the following rhetorical question to me recently: "Reading just takes so long, doesn't it?" I am still wondering: so long in comparison to what?!

My biggest concern is that these are the individuals we're going to be seeing on TV and newspapers not too long from now (Exhibit A: the royal couple). I do worry that this niche group is so emblematic of our University. Alas, I guess we could be infamous for worse things...