The New Anti-Greg Page

Presented to you by:
The Lindy Hoppers Homepage!
Established April, 1998
Revised Version February, 1999

Welcome back to an all new Anti-Greg page. Now I know you may be thinking to yourself: "Isn't Greg old news by now?" and "Why is this page still up?" So here's why:

First off, this page is just to much of a classic for me to let go of. In fact, it was half of the reason why we created this page almost a year ago in the first place. The other half being our desire to expose PBDA as an evil organization. So we can't just get rid of a piece of history, right?

Secondly, and more importantly, this new page really isn't about Greg the person anymore. He IS old news. However, we now want to use his example to help alert other people about this TYPE of person. Why? Over the pass year we have received many emails from many cities across the United States saying how funny they though this page because they had some guy who was just like Greg in their own scene. So we got to thinking: "Wow, every swing scene must have a "Greg" of their own, we better tell people what to look out for."

So here's the new purpose of this page: If you are new to any swing scene, or are moving about different scenes, this is to warn you as to what to look out for. Every scene has one (if not two or three), their own "Greg." Oh, and by the way, the real Greg is currently in San Francisco, so if you live there you now have the pleasure of dealing with the real thing.

The Story Behind The Original Greg:

To set the stage on what to look out for requires a little bit of history. So hear is the brief story behind the original Greg:

Greg first appeared at Disneyland back in early 1997. At first, he seemed like an okay kind of guy, who really wanted to learn how to swing. He tried overly hard to gain friends, mainly so he could learn how to dance. In time he learned the basics, minus a few major items such as keeping the beat, and slowly gained a few friends here and there.

He then saved up all his money to by a zoot-suit, and then began the slow transformation into a new Greg. The new Greg included a cocky attitude, a slue of swing phrases (mainly from the 60's swing revival, not the original slang mind you) and some "new," overly exaggerated swing moves geared towards drawing more attention to himself.

Then came a major event in the evolution of Greg. A picture of him dancing was printed in the Orange County Register. Mind you, this picture was not taken because he dances well, but because he and the girl he was dancing with happened to be reasonably well dressed that night. This picture boosted Greg's ego way off the scale, and all of the sudden he acted as though he was just the best dancer around. This ego problem, and the subsequent acts on Greg's part it caused, were the reasons behind the publication of the original "Anti-Greg Page."

After some time of dealing with Greg's new attitude, people began to give him the cold shoulder and informed him that he was highly disliked. At that time he then incessantly begged for forgiveness, stating he was sorry for all the things he had been doing. He said that he was unaware that his so called "jokes" where being taken literately. I'm sorry, but the kind of things he did and said could never be considered a joke. He knew what he was saying, and he knew what he was doing. Anyway, even after being clearly told that what he does is unacceptable, and after him even apologizing for it, he continued act in the same manner.

But, that was all in the past, and it's clearly time to move on from the original Greg. What we didn't want to happen though, is for other people in other areas to run into the same type of person in their scene. Knowing what to look out can lead to avoiding some unnecessary pain, frustration, and annoyance. So, for the new page, we are using examples of Greg acts, attitudes, and personality traits (among other things) as examples of what to look out for within the swing scene of your area. Again, many people have written saying there is a guy just like Greg in their town, so watch out...

How To Identify A "Greg" In Your Scene:

Here are the identifying features of someone who may be a Greg. They are listed in no particular order:

A person who is incessantly rude to others. This can be identified if this person regularly tells people: "Don't you know you are not welcome around here" or stops dancing with someone to say "You need to take some lessons first."

A person who acts and maintains the attitude as though they are the greatest dancer in the world. Not even the dancers who have been hailed as great by others act this way.

A person who goes around calling people older then them "kid", or "kids." Example: "How's is going kids!"

A person, especially white guys, who wear zoot-suits to go dancing in and/or to draw more attention to themselves.

A person who smokes clearly because they are attempting to look "cool." This can be identified by showy displays when they pull their pack of cigarettes out (the same ones common among teenagers who smoke), and that hard to describe strained "look at me, I'm smoking" presence.

A person who may say: "Oh, he's not good enough to come up with a move like that" despite the fact that that person is known to be a better dancer and did in deed create the new move.

A person who uses the slang of the 60's swing revival.

A person who is demeaning to woman. This can be identified by their possible reference woman as "Doll," ("Hey Doll!") a term that every woman I know hates, or acting as though girls should be following them around like puppy dogs.

A person who maintains the assumption that all the girls love him, and that every one of them are just dying to go out with him, or would give anything just to dance with him.

A person who in the process of a business deal screws someone else in the swing scene over royally.

A person who acts as though they "own" any particular swing spot or act as if it is their own "turf."

A person who learns how to dance just so they can "get some chicks."

A person who would walk up to a leads that are clearly better then themselves and tell them "You don't know how to lead," or tells a follow that is known to be great dancer "You really don't know how to follow do you?"

A person who is always criticizing the follows he is dancing with for messing up. This despite that fact that we all knows its the leads responsibility to provide a good lead, and the fault of missed moves in always on the lead.

Send Us Your Comments!

Have a "Greg" in your swing scene? If you do, and would like to submit a funny story about them, send it to us to post. Or, if you have other information that would help people watch out for a "Greg," e-mail it to The Lindy Hoppers today!

Miss the stories from the Old Anti-Greg Page? Click here to view our Article Archives.

Table of Contents:
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The Story Behind This Page	The Story Behind The Original Greg
How To Identify A "Greg" In Your Scene	Send Us Your Comments!
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The Story Behind This Page:

How To Identify A "Greg" In Your Scene: