Sophomore summer is here. It seems the College has done all it can to make this summer which I'm going to spend improving the mind in Baker instead of surfing in Hawaii as pleasant as possible. First, at the close of spring term, ORL evicted me from my pleasant little room in the Choates. (It was becoming almost like home to me, my having spent two-nineteenths of my life there).
This departure entailed putting my belongings in cardboard boxes and finding a way to transport it to Russell-Sage which, you might be delighted to know, was offering controlled storage for the interim period for the all-time low price of $2 a box. Or at least they were until just before I got there with my entourage of boxes.
A pleasant chat with a very courteous lady in the basement of North (Mid? South? Irrelevant to the tale) Mass left me in possession of the knowledge that I could store my boxes in the trunk room of Lord, my scene of residence for the summer term.
Armed with this information, I arrived at the gates of the trunk room of Lord. It kind of doesn't go with the story, but they let me store my stuff there.
Having solved one problem, I was thrust into the welcoming arms of another: where to go now? A two week break does not lend itself to a trip back home to India. Having mastered cost-benefit analysis in Economics 1, I was fully aware of this. So having judiciously separated my sleeping bag from the rest of my belongings safely residing in the trunk room (Oh! How I wished I shared their fate), and having unjudiciously failed to repeat the same procedure with my toothbrush, I decided to explore ... People's generosity with living space, that is.
Anyway, fast forward to the end of the interim. Boxes retrieved from the trunk room in the basement of Lord -- just a couple doors from my own summer quarters in the basement of Lord. Boxes back in the room, toothbrush back out of the boxes, computer on desk (actually, on a fridge precariously balanced on books), bed sheets on bed, etc. A sense of place, a sense of belonging and so on. All very nice.
But given a choice, I would pass over the opportunity to go through that process of changing rooms for the privilege of staying on during summer term. If the College really wishes more of us to consider remaining in Hanover during the summer, it has got to start giving us some serious incentives to forgo the pleasures of summer. Something along the lines of a Food Court open twenty-four hours instead of the usual fifteen and definitely instead of the unusual ten that we are being presented with right now.
Air conditioning in the dorms, or at least in the basement of Lord. Ketchup dispensers guaranteed to be full so they don't splat on you. Profs who put their notes on reserve. No roaring lawn mowers or deafening leaf blowers. Predictable weather so you know what to wear -- green baseball caps or white ones. (Hang on. Time for a word count. Hmm, 552. Sorry. I mean five-hundred and fifty-two. Not good enough. Just a few more and we'll be all set.) Dryers that dry the first time around. Better smelling fraternity basements. Better smelling basements, period. And soap in the bathrooms.
Definitely soap in the bathrooms.
And an editorials editor who doesn't mind crappy columns.
