Feeling A Little Spacey

It’s 2002, and I’m the treasurer of my eleventh-grade class. One day, the other officers — president, vice president, and secretary — and I are getting some letters ready to mail to the parents of our fellow students. One of the other officers starts laughing.

Officer #1: “Look at this name! It’s so funny!”

She shows us an envelope with “Buzz” on it as the first name of someone’s dad. The other two officers join in the laughter.

Me: “It’s unusual, but it’s the name of an astronaut.”

Officer #2: “Really?”

Officer #3: “Oh, right; Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story.”

Me: “No, Buzz Aldrin.”

They stare blankly.

Me: “Apollo 11?”

They continue to stare blankly.

Me: “The second man on the moon, after Neil Armstrong? I know we all learned about it in history; we were in the same class.”

Officers: *Unconvincingly* “Oh, right, right. Him. Yes, I remember.”

I don’t think they actually remembered.