Potluck Etiquette

Potlucks. What does one bring to a potluck anyway? Is there some sort of potluck etiquette you have to follow? Must it always be so random? Isn't there a way to make your dish fit with everyone else's? I guess there will always be a few staples you can gauge your potluck contributions off of. There will always be meatloaf. And Jello. And something in a crockpot. You can also count on some sort of "salad" made of mandarin oranges covered in white and pink fluffy stuff. These are the dishes that always show up, but no one can ever figure out who brought them. One of the most nerve-racking things about potlucks is being in line in front of someone when you don't know what dish they brought. A lot of people get really offended if you don't take some of their dish. You might get lucky and get in front of the chocolate chip cookie lady, but then again, you might end up in front of the mandarin fluff salad guy. You can feel his eyes watching you as you hesitate when you reach the salad. It's the moment of truth: do you pass on the fluff stuff and risk being pelted with a shuttlecock during the evening's badminton game, or do you just take a pity scoop and pray the salad guy doesn't see you throw it away later? It's a tough call. Most people opt for the pity scoops. Apparently nothing is worth getting hit by a shuttlecock.