At the beginning of her sophomore year at UW, Vivian decided that if she was to have a sexessful* (*her own concocted word) year it behooved her to be more friendly. Since her two main and only lovers of her freshmen year were no longer on the scene she knew she would have to be more outgoing than her normal want.
Accordingly one Thursday morning at the beginning of October, she donned her jet black thigh high boots with innumerable lacings up front. She also wore a woman's sweatshirt with the words "Wisconsin's Finest" printed on it, positioned so as to fit snugly across and over her breasts for a blatant come on message. Her somewhat provocative attire did not really raise any eyebrows amongst the jaded students but Vivian did detect an occasional interested stare from some male passers-by.
At noon Vivian went for lunch at one of the school cafeterias and sat down alone at a table with capacity for four. As she was enjoying her meal, a tall extremely handsome black student approached her and asked if he could join her. She offered no objection, but she wasn't particularly inviting despite her resolve of the day to be more friendly. Undaunted he sat down at her table and introduced himself:
"Hi then. My name is Nigel Koeninger."
"Charmed I'm sure! I'm Vivian Laaning..."
As Vivian was caught off guard by this intrusion she reverted back to her usual caustic self with her reply. She inwardly groaned as it was contrary to her otherwise resolve for the day. Ignoring Vivian's not so friendly greeting Nigel simply replied:
"Yes, I know your name."
"Oh? Have we met before?"
"We haven't actually been introduced but I've seen you before. One of my close friends here, and my last year's room mate was John Jay Hooker. I was at the party last semester where you two first met and he mentioned to me afterwards that he had a hot time with you and that you were a terrific girl. And he kept singing your praises thereafter."
"Very kind of him to say so. I'm glad that there are good reports about me circulating around. It's a welcome reversal to what I was subject to when I was in high school."
"Yes John had advised me about your trials and tribulations at high school and I was intrigued by the dichotomy of his praises to your negative reputation. I had enough of a glimpse of you at the party to stir my interest. John reiterated your merits throughout the ensuing weeks, and a couple of times he pointed you out so that I have come to recognize you. Naturally with him gone, I formed a desire to eventually meet you. Spotting you here today has been my first chance to satisfy my curiosity and I did not want to miss the opportunity."
Vivian reacted warmly to this speech which had melted her initial icy resistance. She was, therefore, happily disposed to continue the conversation. She responded:
"I commend you for a most riveting introduction much superior to the mundane common pick-up lines we females are usually subjected to when greeted by persons of the male persuasion. Bravo Mr er...Koeninger!"
Nigel laughed and was thrilled by her language. He was impressed that she could so quickly turn from reserved to inviting on a dime. Most of all he appreciated that she did not deign to talk down to him. So he replied:
"Call me Nigel! And bravo to you as well Ms Laaning for assuming I can converse above the ghetto level. Unfortunately I encounter much condescension amongst a lot of you white folks despite the fact I'm a legitimate engineering student not even requiring the benefit of affirmative action nor am I here at UW on an athletic scholarship."
Vivian replied:
"Well you can call me Vivian and thank you for the complement. I hate to be thought of as a racist. Aside from the obvious abhorrence of holding such a contemptible stance I'm aware it is the unforgivable sin of a cosmopolitan sophisticate. And I so desire to achieve such a high societal level if only so I could finally overcome my humble roots as a farmer's daughter."
Now Nigel laughed even harder at Vivian's extravagant observation. He now fully comprehended Hooker's continued praise of her wit in addition to his delight in her sexuality. As he regained his composure he assured Vivian:
"Trust me Vivian. We black folks can spot a racist within seconds. And I can unequivocally declare no black person would or for that matter could accuse you of racism."
"Well that's good to know, but Nigel that brings to mind a question I have which I hope you don't mind enlightening me. It has to do with your name...It does not seem to be...er...blackish."
Nigel chuckled and said:
"John Hooker warned me about your tendency to focus on origins of names. He told me that you grilled him about his famous ancestor and the peculiarity of his last name."
"I wouldn't say I 'grilled' (here Vivian made the quotation sign when uttering that word) him I was merely curious that's all. Are you then dodging my question?"
"My paternal grandfather was a German who as a young adult immigrated to the United States to escape the consequences of living in Nazi Germany during the rule of Hitler. He met and fell in love with my vivacious grandmother who was black. To his credit he had the fortitude to marry her at a time and in a state where interracial marriage was actually illegal. They had a son who married a black woman and those two became my parents."
Vivian smiled at that recitation and sighed:
"Oh my what a romantic and heroic story of your grandparents! So that explains your surname, but what about your first name? That certainly does not sound blackish either."
"My mother had rather eclectic tastes. At the time of my birth her favorite television show believe it or not was a British comedy titled: 'Yes Minister'. From all accounts it was quite a humorous show about British politics, but not one which one would suspect would have any appeal to African-Americans. But I guess my mother marched to the beat of her own drummer."
