by Zoe C

Created on: February 26, 2008

As the #1 moniker of parental choice for girls born during the 70s and 80s, "Jennifer" has enjoyed years of a coveted "four-to-a-classroom" reign and the promise of instantaneous friendships for Jennifers of the miniature variety. Should good fortune have graced a young girl as a Jennifer, an immediate connection with at least one new classmate on the first day of school was a given. I, for one, have never forgotten my pledge of "friends forever," a promise made to another Jennifer within ten minutes of entering Mrs. S's kindergarten room. Children tend to form friendships more quickly than their adult counterparts, to be sure, but a smiling friend who makes the very first day of school a little less scary is no less than a godsend for a frightened little Jennifer in white tights and a side ponytail.

Sadly, my very first Jennifer-Jennifer bond came to an end during the second week of school during a dispute over the only carnation pink Crayola in Mrs. S's yellow plastic bin. I have no doubt that many Jennifer friendships of the late 80s and early 90s met similarly tragic ends, but we mustn't let these disappointments overshadow certain happy memories: Who could forget the Jennifers of 'Full House,' occupants of three seats at the mighty Fifth Grade Power Table in Stephanie's class?

These girls were, of course, an example of the rare triple Jennifer-Jennifer-Jennifer friendship, a gem among the more common Jennifer teams of doubles (Jennifer-Jennifer) and quadruples (Jennifer-Jennifer-Jennifer-Jennifer). So strong was the connection between these three young epitomes of coolness that they developed a telepathic connection: Two-thirds of the trio, Jennifer and Jennifer, were delighted to discover that they had unknowingly shaved their legs at the same time. We may wonder then, why was it not the 'Full House' Jennifers who introduced "BFF" into popular circulation? Unfortunately, the cancellation of the series brought an untimely demise to the team of popular Jennifers, but this particular Full House trio is still a shining beacon reminding us that not all Jennifer friendships were lost to craft-time bickering.

Recently though, the Jennifers of later Generation X and early Generation Y have been faced with a new obstacle: Like the Communist Bloc of their early childhood, the Jennifer Bloc has fragmented into geographically close but wildly opposing subcultures: the Jens and the Jenns. Underestimate not the power of this seemingly subtle difference. Why so many Jennifers

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