Imagine my surprise to find the rectory living/dining room to bear an uncanny resemblance to a fraternity house (well, a really, really NICE fraternity house, anyway.) They even have a bar, complete with a neon palm tree wall hanging. I'm not even kidding.
The key differences between the frat houses of my youth and the priests' home of today are outlined as follows:
| Frat House |
Rectory | |
| Entry |
Greek letters over door |
Crucifix over door |
| Foyer | pile of coats on floor |
coat closet for guests |
| atmosphere (i.e. - SMELL) |
stale beer |
stewed cabbage |
| centerpice of coffee table |
game of "quarters"; bong; ashtray; plastic cups of beer |
large glass hurricane candleholder surrounded by wreath of holiday greens; coasters for guests' drinks |
| wall decor |
girlie pinups, beer ad signs, neon palm tree |
wood carvings saying "jesus"; repro landscape prints, neon palm tree |
| furniture | stained, soaked, shredded tweed armchairs and sofas from 1984 | good-quality leather sofa and loveseat; classic wing chairs, dept. store-quality traditional dining room set, faux/moveable fireplace for "atmosphere" |
It was a nice get-together; Fr. Jerry (the pastor) put together a table of appetizers and I bought cookies. He tended bar, and to my annoyance, for some reason he kept avoiding serving me, and in fact topped off the men's wine but skipped over me...that is weird because I've never gotten drunk and stupid at a church event... other events yes, but not a chuch event. Heheh.
