Tuesday, August 22, 2006

ROOMMATE RUMBLE

Ooh! Talk about oddball college roommates struck a nerve. There was the guy who never slept on bedsheets in four years; he slept on the bare mattress with an old Indian blanket over him. Hence the nickname “Chief.” It made everybody else itchy, though.

There was the girl with feet so smelly, her roommate snuck baby powder into them at night while she slept. In fact, there was another girl with a bona fide skin problem who was so smelly, her roommate moved in with two other girls and let her have a single room. A rather . . . stinky . . . way to get some privacy, but oh well, and they stayed friends, too.

There was the freshman who got paired with the busy junior who was never there and interacted with her as much as with a hat rack. There was the serious scholar who got paired with the noise addict who couldn’t sleep, study or do anything without the TV blaring.

There was the orderly engineering major who studied at her desk every night until 10 p.m., even on weekends, and then went immediately to bed. Her schedule called for her to leave for class every day at 7:15 a.m. Her roommate, naturally, was the party hog type who came in late and slept in, taking classes not necessarily in her "bunny slope" major, but whatever was offered in the afternoon. Weeks went by and they barely saw each other, although relations were cordial when they did. They left notes about getting together to paint their room but could never find time. Finally, in mid-October, the future engineer went to the dorm office, requisitioned some paint, and painted . . . HER half of the room. Pea green, too. The party-hearty roommate came home from Homecoming festivities to see the line down the middle of the wall, and figured it was time to move out . . . for no other reason than that she HATED pea green.

They stayed friends, too. Sometimes it’s easier to be friends when you can’t even be in the same room . . . especially if it's pea green.

No comments: