Just as football season marks the beginning of fall, Thanksgiving weekend is the first glimmer that the semester is coming to a close. As the majority of UF students rush home to get some turkey, stuffing and tryptophan-induced sleep, a unique time in Gainesville nightlife starts to take hold.
This city, which is usually crawling with non-local students, suddenly becomes full of people that know Gainesville like the backs of their hands.
Oh yes, for one weekend out of the year Alachua county residents actually outnumber the out-of-towners.
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving has unofficially become "ACR night" at Gator City, and it is definitely an event to witness, whether you are from Gainesville or elsewhere.
ACR night is the time when locals can rekindle the flame with their seventh grade boyfriend or meet up with the hot girl from high school who happens to have gotten a lot less intimidating over the past few years.
For those students who aren't from Gainesville and didn't make the trek home for Thanksgiving, ACR night provides insight into what life is like for all of us who have lived in the same place for more than two decades.
General conversation among ACRs can range from what everybody is doing at their respective colleges to rumors about middle-school colleagues that are now married, pregnant or in the Army.
If you're feeling brave and you're thinking about participating in next year's ACR night, be prepared to answer the "So what have you been up to?" question approximately every five minutes.
My suggestion for you out-of-towners: Make up an entertaining back story. Chances are most of the kids that come home to Gainesville have no idea who you are, and definitely can't prove that you weren't a knife-thrower in the circus in between high school and college.
A final word of caution to my fellow Gainesvillians: Although ACR night gives you the opportunity to catch up with people you haven't seen in years, it is inevitable that at least one awkward encounter will occur. Use your peripheral vision to avoid these at all costs, and if that doesn't work, remember that you probably have at least a year before you see these people again.
