The Follies of Foibled Freshmen

So, last night I was sitting in my room talking with one of my friends who's also an RA. Suddenly, outside, I hear a very loud chorus of flirtacious freshmen singing some kind of song about a sweater while lying on their backs on the basketball court. The court had two sorts of meanings that night, as it was the young men who persisted in screaming the song at the top of their lungs. It's about 10:30 on a weeknight, mind you, and they're just being annoying.

Well, being possesed of a stale bagel, I decided to toss it out the window in their direction--honestly, I wasn't trying to hit them with the bagel, I was just tossing it towards them. I tossed the bagel, and then sat back down quickly. About a second later I hear a thud as the bagel hits the ground, and then a sqeal from one of the girls in the group who them points out the fact that someone is throwing bagels at them.

At this point, I find the whole situation unbearable funny. I, the RA, just threw food out of my window instead of just telling the people to be quiet...I'm laughing about it thinking right now. Am I callous? Well, maybe...but no one got hit, and the birds will eat the bagel.

Anyway, the "singing" didn't stop there. It kept going...and louder. I think they were trying to punish the bagel thrower--I just found it more hilarious. I guess someone shouted out the window that they needed to be quiet eventually, because one of the girls the girls shouted back, "No, YOU'RE the (unpleasant female term of two letters--rhymes with "dough")."

So, to the freshmen chorus of the evening--coungratulations, you win the prize.

though sometimes they forget that...

There were three guys standing outside the windows today, and making snide remarks while trying to pretend that they weren't actually looking inside at the people in the lobby. The thing is, that their remarks were neither witty, nor clever. How could I tell? Because I could hear every single word that these poor posing fools were saying. They were being jerks, and hoping to impress young women in doing so. Not the smartest way to do things boys.

It reminds me of what happens as soon as it gets to be a few months into the semester--the couples start saying goodnight outside the windows of the lobby. It seems that the windows are solid so they must actually be walls misconception runs thick in the Freshmen mentality, as various couples lean up against the windows to say their goodnights...I'm sure they can't actually think that those kinds of kisses are seen by the whole of the lobby-goers for the evening...I'm almost certain that they wouldn't make the same sorts of smacking noises if they knew that people were on the other side, listening, and watching every saliva-swapping moment.

At least I hope people aren't that comfortable with themselves...

You know...I always laugh at the fact that one of the greatest perks about being a freshmen is also one of the things that people complain the most about. Well...at least female people complain most about it.

Yeah, it's the weight gain aspect of things. Girls HATE to gain weight, and so I see them out running, and exercising, and talking about not eating and the like...

And then I see them with their chocolate milk....their creamery ice cream...and their vending machine dinners. It makes me want to just tell them to forget about hating the fact that they might gain weight and just embrace the whole thing. Keep running and exercising...take the stairs instead of the elevator...but just love the fact that there's chocolate milk and ice cream at your happy dining plus disposal. It's not like you're going to have it in a year or so anyway.

Tonight's freshmen moment gets to go to me...my very own self.

Last night, at 11:00 in the evening, I got a safewalk home from the southwest corner of campus on up to good old DT. I'm not actually convinced that I needed to do it, but I have a friend who was concerned for my safety, and she doesn't ask a lot, so I called University Police and had them walk me home. I've walked with this particular security guard before. She always thanks me for calling, because she likes walking people home a lot more than she enjoys checking buildings. She tells me hilarious stories though. Tonight's story involved her checking the Benson building after hours once, and finding a couple engaged in activities that got them dismissed from the university in an elevator.

My only thought there was WHY? Who thinks of doing things like that? Anyway.

We get to the door of my building, and she says, "you think you can make it safe from here?"

I laughed the whole way into the dorm. Moral of the story is, calling for Safewalks isn't that bad, and University Police actually enjoy doing it.

I know that there are differences in generations as far as touching goes...but I'm not from a different generation than most of these girls. I was standing and talking to a few of them yesterday and one of them was playing with a stress ball. She just sort of reached over towards me and stuck it in my little overshirt and then just stood there.

Umm...that's totally mine, thanks.

Anyway, tonight a different girl on my floor came up and slapped my bum as she walked by me. I was talking to LEB, and he says, "you forgot to say 'good game'."

I find the practice of bum-slapping kind of disturbing when athletes do it without a second thought. I was amazed when I watched the Olympics and saw more than just football players doing it. I, however, was not playing any kind of sport...I was talking. That's not grounds for bum-slapping.

Red flag. Bad form, whatever you want to call it. That bum is my own personal bum.

Freshmen girls on campus aren't hard to spot--they all walk around with a little bit of a bounce in their step and an excited look in their eye as they spot out all the worthy male priesthood holders who fulfill the check marks on the lists they made in Young Women's. They're all REALLY excited to be here, and none of them ever dated in High School, so they don't know why they're having all these guy issues all of a sudden!

Welcome to the conversations in my life right now. I live with a bunch of girls (about 40) who are, for the most part, all getting their first taste of what's it's like to break the hearts of helpless little freshmen guys who will be heading out on missions at the end of the semesters, and in so doing, breaking the hearts of these girls, who will then get over it, get dating again, and then break the missionary's heart all over again. These missionaries will then come back vowing not to date freshmen girls who will then have to date the freshmen boys instead, and the whole thing just keeps going--vicious cycle eh?

It's two weeks into the semester, but the hormones are already racing through these girl's veins. There are a few who have cuddled with multiple young men, held hands with several, and have proclaimed themselves "hand skanks." Thankfully, none of them are lip-locking with anyone yet.

Anyway, one girl on the floor came and decided to read me the conversation she'd had online with this guy she likes. They eat breakfast together, and she thinks he's "a nerd, but he's cute" because he takes Calc at 7:00 am. Anyway, they're talking online, and she keeps bringing the conversation back to herself and everything she likes to do--basically she's doing 95% of the talking, and he's "uhhhh"-ing the rest of the time. At one point she's talking about guys who look at her and smile all the time. One of the other girls reading this conversation says, "what are you doing?!?" She responds with, "Well, I have to make him jealous!"

Actually, that's not a necessary aspect of a healthy relationship...oh well.