so I'm on my way to lunch

at Priya Restaurant in Berkeley, on Saturday, to celebrate my friend C's graduation. A guy gets off the # 51 bus with me, crosses the road with me, and as we wait for the light to change at the junction, says:

Excuse me, are you Miss Eloquence?

I'm like: Whhaat?

He sez: Aren't you the poet who performed at the earthquake benefit for Kashmir?

My impulse, as always in these situations, is to deny it, but that just makes me seem slightly unhinged when it's clear that I am. So I confess I am, we have a pleasant little exchange until we get to the restaurant, where he's also going, but not to C's party. We say goodbye and it isn't until today that I remember the encounter and think:

Miss Eloquence? Where did THAT come from? Is that how the MC introduced me that night?

Sounds like a high school title. Or a pseudonym on a chat site. Or a dominatrix in shiny black leather bustier and thigh high boots. It reminds me of being in my high school debate club at 14. We were recruiting new members at the start of the school year, and I wrote a little blurb that said: Debate Club has improved my eloquence.

The English teacher in charge of the club said: You cannot claim eloquence yet. You may write: Debate Club has aided my efforts towards becoming eloquent.

I was more intrigued than snubbed. Her words gave me a new sense of what "eloquence" meant - a standard to be reached for, not to be lightly claimed.