Iyabode (July 16)

Her name is pronounced Ee-ya-bo-day, but she goes by Yabby. Yabby does not believe anything. She was in Acting for TV and Film class with Grace and I.

Our professor would bring in scripts of random movie scenes. In one scene, a man was arguing with a woman about what to do with a baby. I don't remember the exact circumstances, either she couldn't afford the baby or didn't want it or something. Regardless the guy in the scene had a stron opinion on the matter.

During the comment portion of the class, Yabby raised her hand.

Yabby: "I have a question, why does that guy get to say anything about what happens? It's not his kid!"

Prof. Topol: "Well that's just the scene, we're talking about what we thought of the scene."

Yabby: "I thought the scene was bad! That guy does not have a say what happen's to the baby! It's not yo' baby!"

Well Grace and I loved this line and "It's not yo' baby" became our tagline for pretty much anything we wrote together, especially our sketch comedy show a year later.

During the winter semester that year, I went to London for intercession. On our first day, the head of security at the college we were staying at was explaining how to be safe and gave us some information for our benefit. He explained a couple of things that had happened when people had not followed the safety guidelines. He told us how somebody had tried to climb into the park after dark and impaled his arm on the fence. Upon hearing this, Yabby spoke up.

"Uh-uh, I do not feel safe! Did you hear that? Some guy got his arm caught on a fence and it cut right through him, that is not safe at all! How can you feel safe, what kind of security is this?"

Another day, we were visiting one of the Queen's castles. They have British soldiers posted who are not allowed to move at all. Yabby approached one of the guards and while standing right in front of him she looked around and started yelling.

"That is not a real soldier, that guy is too young. He's just an actor!"

I went and asked a tour guide, not feeling good about what was happening. The tour guide replied to me and the group around us that the man was indeed a soldier who had just returned from a tour in Iraq. Yabby still didn't seem to believe it but I think I detected the slightest of smirks on the soldier's face for having her proven wrong.