Dorm Dilemmas

ESU students Myori Granger and Kimberly Smith are having roommate troubles. Photo Credit / Brook Wadle
ESU students Myori Granger and Kimberly Smith are having roommate troubles.  Photo Credit / Brook Wadle
ESU students Myori Granger and Kimberly Smith are having roommate troubles.
Photo Credit / Brook Wadle

BY JACKIE PRESTOY

SC Contributing Writer

Roommates 

You don’t really know a person until you live with them. Everything is sunshine and butterflies for the first week or so, and then it happens.

Maybe they’re gross; they let their laundry go for weeks on weeks.

They could have dirty dishes and food everywhere. That pungent odor you smell?

It can’t be blamed on one area of the room. It’s a special blend of Monday’s nacho cheese, last month’s gym socks that were caught in the rain, stale coffee, “Yugoslavian Summer” room spray and some cotton candy perfume.

And don’t forget that having a roommate with a completely different sleeping/ class schedule can be quite the struggle.

One party may want to go to be at 11 PM because they have 8am classes, whereas the other may not have class until 1pm, encouraging them to stay up until 3am.

 

Laundry

The laundry room is dog-eat-dog.

It is busy at most times, and people just want to clean their clothes as quickly as possible.

This means it’s not uncommon to see wet clothes removed from the washer if they weren’t retrieved within five minutes of it completing its cycle.

Or, the best one, don’t be shocked when clothes get removed from the dryer as soon as the timer goes off. The timer doesn’t mean they’re dry, just that they’re likely dry, meaning it’s not uncommon for them to still be wet. That’s always nice.

 

Hair

Hair will be everywhere in the bathrooms. This is very real.

Wads of hair will be on the floor, in the sinks, in the shower drains, stuck on the wall, etc. It will touch you. Understand and accept this fact of life now.

 

Fire Alarms

Fire drills are important, don’t think they’re not, but they’re definitely an annoying aspect of dorm life.

Usually residence halls try to plan drills in the middle of the day to avoid people sleeping or showering, but every once in a while, after 11 PM and before 10 AM, someone will burn a bagel, their hair, etc.

Plan to be outside in 20 degree weather with wet hair, no makeup, and obvious acne treatments on your face in your raggedy old t-shirt and pajama pants.

Hope that’s how you are, because an alternative is fresh out of the shower in nothing but a towel. Cute.

Email Jackie at:

jprestoy@live.esu.edu