Pop, Lock, & Drop It!

"Toot that thang up mommy make it roll..."

2007. In the middle of the dance floor. Instructed by Huey himself and clad in my cutest pair of plaid shorts. Very "in" for the era, I might add. I was popping and locking. Showing everyone what my momma gave me.

Let's rewind a little bit, not too far. I had been dying to go to our version of a Spring dance. Very informal, no tux or gown in sight and if we're being honest, those make the best parties. The less formal, the better. Let's get back on track. The dance, everyone was talking about it all week and the week prior. I finally worked up the courage to ask my mom if I could attend, being the youngest was a blessing and a curse. Things my age got me denied for, my grades came in to save the day. I mean, it's hard to say "no" to an honor student. Even with that being the case, my mom was a tough cookie to crack but I was determined to make it to this dance. If my grades didn't do the trick, I had my older sister as reinforcement. She too, would be attending the dance.

To my surprise, I didn't have to do too much convincing. Now that I look back on the day, I should have took that as a sign from the universe to just stay home but if we're being truthful, I don't know a 15 year old that's tapped into the cosmos just yet.

Fast forward back to that night in the gymnasium. Me and my girls were having OUR moment, our outfits were banging, the guys were lingering, and of course the dj was playing all the right music. We were partying like rockstars, rocking our hips, and living the good life. The night was perfect, down to the slow dance, a teacher’s worst enemy. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better I headed to the restroom to freshen up and check out my hair. The way we danced in middle school it was fairly easy to sweat out whatever cute style you entered the party with. In the middle of my mirror checkup, I heard the faint sounds of one of my favorite tracks. My eyes lit up! I ran out onto the dance floor in search of my girls, this is it! This was the one song the dj hadn’t played yet. “...If yo' mama gave it to you, baby girl, let it show” I was ready. Finally! I found my girls right where we first started making our rounds. “Pop, Lock, and Drop It!” Huey’s instructions were very clear as we huddled together to do our thing. I popped. Locked. Then dropped as my friends cheered me on. If we all know one thing it’s that when your friends or anyone for that matter strokes your ego it gives you a boost of confidence like no other. After the last “that’s my best friend!’ I went super saiyan. “Pop! Lock! & Drop it!” That was all she wrote. With the last drop, I felt the seat of my pants give way and heard the deafening rip over the loudspeakers. Eyes bulging, I froze for a split second before I jumped up immediately covering my exposed bottom. Before I knew it, I had a shirt around my waist and was on my way to find my sister. I didn’t even look back to see who was my savior in that moment. Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, I just wanted to melt into the floor. After delivering the horrifying news to my sister I exited the building and sat curbside waiting on my mom to arrive. I didn’t even say goodbye to my friends, just climbed in my mom’s car and relayed the entire series of unfortunate events back to her.

Needless to say, I was done with Huey and plaid pants.