At the risk of inciting a stampede, Nick Rangos is single, ladies. Yep, take a number.
The past six months, I’ve perused Eagle Rants and noticed some reliable trends. Virgins talk about how proud they are to be abstinent (uh, no wonder they’re ranting), students vent about trying to get to the gym (let the gym come to you) and ladies and possibly fellas fawning over some guy named Nick Rangos.
Just some recent examples: “I’ve got Rangos fever.” “I saw Nick Rangos go out of his way and hold the door for a group of people. Just when we thought he couldn’t get any sweeter.” “Nick Rangos is single? Hold on I’ll be right there!!!!!”
So I had to find out, just who is this kid, the hottest guy in our school (sorry Nate Bronstein). The dude gets more love than spring break.
I emailed him to find out. He couldn’t be that great, right?
I was trying to angle something for this column. I thought about demonstrating that our culture’s obsession with celebrity is nauseatingly unhealthy, and, if that was trite, I’d illustrate something about how “hot” people aren’t always friendly or intelligent or even the best choice for dating material. I thought Rangos might ignore my request for an interview or reply obtusely or briefly.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Nick answered promptly and sent humorous paragraphs back my way.
Let’s examine some of the results, shall we?
When asked what it’s like to be the most talked about “hot” guy on campus he replied, “All in all, I’d say it’s nice to have some people out there complimenting me, but at the end of the day, the Rants that mean the most are the ones where people say I’m a nice/good guy — that’s a better reputation to have than being a hottie.”
(OK, fine, so the dude is nice too. Sigh. Moving on.)
He must be shallow though. If you’re nice and attractive, that generally follows suit.
When asked what he looks for in a date he said, “First and foremost, I look for common ground. If I walk up to a girl at a party or some place, I want to know if I have anything in common with her. I have a ton of interests ranging from scuba diving, backpacking and woodworking to movies, lifting weights and singing. (I’m a vocal performance minor).”
(Great, and he can sing. This is like playing basketball against LeBron James.)
So I figured he’s probably always been admired for his looks. He probably never went through that awkward phase normal kids go through.
Asked if he was always an attractive kid growing up, he responded, “Absolutely not! My gangliness aside, I guess I wasn’t bad looking except for my disgustingly long, straight blonde hair I rocked in 7th grade; it was pretty nasty looking back on it, especially when coupled with my tendency to wear the same smelly, Warrior lacrosse T-shirt at least twice per week.”
(Wait, did he just say lacrosse?! What’s next, he studies physics? Actually, he does.)
Asked if his publicity intimidates people from approaching him he replied, “My parents raised me to always put others above myself and to always act as a gentleman, so I’m always down to talk or hang out with anyone, providing I’m not buried under a mound of physics homework or something; that stuff can sap away a whole day…”
(Hear that, Mom and Dad? He even does his physics homework).
Well, despite my best efforts to “flaw-ify” him, Nick exits this round unscathed.
At the end of our email exchange Nick said, “I hope my responses help make the column the best it can be. Again, if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.”
(Um, sure. Would you mind transferring schools so the rest of us have a chance?)
It appears some people really do have it all.
Now excuse me, I’m gonna go make up some Rant about what a jerk he is for not proofreading my column.
Conor Shapiro is a graduate student in the School of International Service.
edpage@theeagleonline.com
