Picture, if you will, seven college-aged gals, all crammed into a teeny-tiny bathroom. One is standing in front of the mirror, straightening her hair. Another is sitting on the countertop inches from the mirror, mouth slightly ajar as she applies mascara. (Ask any woman- it's a rule.) A third is on the closed toilet seat, painting her toenails. The sequence continues until you have a bathroom full of girls- all in various stages of prepwork. This, my friends, was any given weekend evening in college. I'm pretty quick at getting ready, so I'd do something completely unnecessary and random so that I could stay in the bathroom and talk. We would cluck like chickens, talking about anything and everything- they are joyous times in the bathroom.
Picture, if you will, the same group of girls gathered in a circle around the living room, mere feet from the joyous bathroom. The air is tense. One girl chews on her hangnail while another hugs her knees close to her chest. One girl gazes wistfully out the window. One girl addresses the group- there's a problem: someone's leaving dishes in the sink or someone's eating someone's groceries or someone has stolen someone's favorite blue sweater! It's official roommate meeting time.
For every roommate meeting time, there were scores of blissful bathroom moments, sitting on someone's aunt's 30-year-old couch that they let us have for free heart-to-heart moments, walking to class laughing with your best pals. But those roommate meeting times, those passive-aggressive notes on the dry-erase board about SOMEONE never unloading the dishwasher- they were challenging. I love to think back on living with gals in college. I don't remember the tense moments often, but they've made us better people- more considerate women & better roommates or wives. Going into college, I was certainly not the most responsible, not the tidiest person on the planet- still far from it. But working through confrontations, chore charts, and whiteboard notes has certainly helped me get closer.
So, thanks, past roomies. For grace to grow and learn how to become a woman! And for teaching me how to take care of a house, confront someone with love, and eat an entire roll of tollhouse cookie dough in one night.
5 comments:
man oh man...sorry i didn't get the memo about cleaning until after i lived with you....luckily i figured it out about a quarter through senior year! you'd be happy to know that some of my best pals now are windex, lysol, fantastik all purpose cleaner, dishwashing liquid, and Mr. Vacuum. sorry i didn't meet them sooner. like sophomore year sooner!!! haha:)
BAH, Jerica. I don't remember you being that way! I think we were all a little cleaning deficient.
I really enjoyed this post! I graduated a mere 5 months ago, and lived with four other girls in a tiny apartment for a year. I understand how much fun it can be...and yet how stressful living in close quarters with so many other girls can be. Reading this brought back memories. Thanks!
cami...i love your post. yes, we must talk and reminisce about our roommate days (dribble dribble, water by the bed, locking the door, fan on at night, friends, gilmore, THE pizza). love those times.
yeah, i'm cheesy...teared up at this one.
i really miss you, cam!
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