CA has somehow lifted the imaginary bar for blog writing. So since this is a comparitive piece in a sense I will try to “bring it” as well. Because as Jody says, I have “No time for fake rhymes.” She has promised me for doing so that she will show me something mediocre from her other “side” talent of graphic design. It will have to suffice for now.
I can’t say I had a vision for what my room-mate should or should not have been. You see, I have never had a room to myself the entirety of my life up until the past two years; much less an entire domicile. I guess my main issues were crazy overblown ones. Like these errant thoughts: “I don’t want a room-mate who has sex in front of me.” “No Brokedown Palace shit where they smuggle drugs in your book bag.” “Please let them like X-Files.” “And God, please don’t let them own a Hamster.” These were my silly concerns. So naïve. Just so naïve.
I was late signing up for college and henceforth late getting a place to live. ODU was stuck with too many students and too little space. The solution of course was to pack 3 cats in a sack and hope they did not claw each other to death. So here I was stuck in a triple and a day late to arrive. My card said my room-mate names were Jennifer from Richmond and Tianna from Louisa. My name was in pink highlights, which basically meant when the time came I would be the first to go when a space opened for me.
Me and the fam get to Rogers sometime in the evening on move-in day and haul my crap up the steps to my new room on Ryan’s (the RA’s) Hall. The doors had octopuses representing each of us on our door, much like Kindergarten where you have a sun or star sitting on your designated desk. Were we octopuses? My mom was laying groundwork for later laughter in picking out all of the boys she thought were cute. Little did she know they would all be revealed to be gay. Sorry mom. Jesse, Adam, and some dark haired fellow on floor two. I felt bad for her because she picked 3 gay son-in-laws thus killing her chances for grandchildren.
I walked in the room to find Tianna sitting at the computer tearing the legs off her octopus. Jennifer wasted no time in saying hello and introducing herself. Tianna, however looked up and continued to cripple her cre’ papered sea animal.
Tianna’s days consisted of writing in her journal and playing solitaire on the computer. There was no time for idle chit-chat or dilly dallying of any type. There was ONLY time for quiet thoughts of studies and personal reflection. My uncle says “Lee can talk a hole into the broad side of a barn.” That’s pretty much me. I like to talk all the time. Which didn’t always work out with Tianna. She would pretty much grimace as if in pain when I would try to share any sorta mundane college story with her in a feeble attempt to bond. My stories were stopped dead in their tracks with monosyllabic answers like, “yeah, no, or my favorite: huh?”
Jennifer on the other hand liked to talk, dance, sing and party (all of which very loudly).
I had met her previously on the ODU tour with her wild looking younger sister and her funny mom. It was actually a relief to see her standing in the room when I got there seeing as to how no one from my high school was in Norfolk. Cool girl. I seen her off and on until my last year. She had a baby with a basketball player and moved to the towers apartments. I hope she’s doing well.
Seeing as we were all desperately cramped in the room, we were forced to venture out and make new friends. At least me and Jennifer would. Tianna had Dell and that’s all she needed. I met the other sea creatures across the hall that would become my room-mates the following year but that’s next weeks blog.
We never had room-mate issues because there was literally no room. There was no room for boyfriends, or hiding spots for hallucinogenic drug paraphanelia. (Much less hampsters or damnable rabbits) It sucked air out of the room to chit chat. There was no space for decorations or posters of any sort. Just room to sleep, shower, and leave.
And eventually the time came for me to LEAVE. Ryan presented this to me as if it were an option or a choice. He said you may stay if you like, but a room is waiting for you. Tianna and Jennifer -I think didn’t want ME per se to leave, but they did want that space. I was sad because I wanted that grandiose..please don’t go speech and it never came. Plus they were my first room-mates. Best friends we weren’t - but still. I took my octopus off the door and we swam on down to Chelsea’s hall.
I didn’t see either of them until a fire drill 3 weeks later. When each of them pulled me to the side to confess they hated the other one and wish I stayed. What can you say about hindsight. Without me there to clog up room they were forced to socialize with each other. Guess it wasn’t meant to be.
The fable part of the story is I put the paper octopus on my door that first night away from the triple and it wound up back on Ryan’s hall stuck on some random door. I’m starting to sound like Rose Niland….
Until Chelsea’s Hall….
6 comments:
I think that guy Ryan was actually the RA on duty when my roommate tried to take a dirt nap...He was very calm about the whole thing, which I appreciated. Then Jessin (my RA) showed up and brought the drama. Didn't you end up rooming with that girl Stacy who got pregnant by my nasty-ass neighbor Tony, who in-turn tried to hit up James for abortion money? Stacey, by the by, was also in the illustrious Communications learning community, though she was sort of a toot and no one talked to her.
No, not Stacy. My new room-mate was Angela. Stacy was two doors down though. I was given the option to stay with her but after seeing the room and the belongings strewn about I changed my mind. She had one of those queen size beds on the bottom with a twin on the top. I could see one of my room-mate nightmares taking place before my eyes. So I hastily went down the hall. :/
Now I remember. I think I had to (gasp!) borrow a book from Ho-Stacey once. I do recall the fallout-from-a-nuclear-bomb motif she was going for.
Stacey was a Hizzo. Ick.
Yeah she was! If she let Tony from next door lay the pipe, she's a downright walking cess-pool. There was a palpable FUNK eminating fron homeboy's room. AND he roomed with BLAKE, Rogers Hall's answer to Larry Flynt. Boy had porn for days.
You think we'd ever run out of college stories? Do you wish sometimes you could stay there forever? (Wait a minute, I am!) So much for the nostalgic fix! - Sheiko
Post a Comment