I had a really random day last Friday. Some days, I feel like I need to take on the system, and other days just getting my laundry done is the only kind of moral victory I need. Friday was definitely in the laundry category.
First of all, I woke up to the snow. Ordinarily, I am a big fan of large quantities of snow. Hey, I'm from Michigan after all. But this was November, not December. And New Hampshire snow is definitely a lot more hard-core than lower peninsular Michigan snow. My 'shmen went outside and frolicked in it, but I was content to stay in my nice warm bed. Maybe being sick had something to do with it. I have an ear infection, or something like that, and being out in the cold is somewhat painful.
I was getting ready for class when I noticed I had no clean socks. I just didn't know what happened to all of them. I swear I came to school with a lot more. They could have been under my bed somewhere, or maybe just in my room in general. I realized that I couldn't even see the floor. I must have had three weeks worth of dirty clothes, plus tons of research on Botswanan fertility and other miscellaneous completed projects, scattered throughout the room. I was thinking that I needed to clean it one of these days. I was also thinking that it might be time to do the inevitable and bring out the vacuum for the first time.
After doing the class thing, I was having very strong TGIF thoughts. So, I went to Lou's for lunch with two friends. Gee, does that place ever have DDS beat. The quesadillas actually have a taste, and quite a good one at that. I realized that this off-campus eating thing can be quite fun.
But alas, one can't stay at Lou's all afternoon. I decided to do laundry. Apparently, everyone and their brother had the same idea, and I had to wait for machines. I was sitting in the laundry room reading, and it became apparent that people were not going to come back to retrieve their clean, wet clothes from the washing machines. I began to get annoyed. You would think that if the laundry room was really crowded, and you put your clothes in the washer, you would come back in a half hour to take them out. It is called "consideration for others," something that certain Dartmouth students could use a lot more of. So I waited for awhile, and then of course removed people's clothes from the machines. For a brief second I thought this constituted being rude, but I got over it. If you leave your stuff there for an hour, you deserve it. When I returned precisely 28 minutes later, there were four free dryers, so I figured I'd take two. As I was loading my stuff into the first dryer, a guy came and threw his stuff into the other three dryers. So I politely asked if he wouldn't mind just using two because I would like to use two. He gave me this dirty look and said, "Sorry but my clothes won't dry in only two dryers." Of course I replied, "Well, if your stuff won't dry in two dryers, how the hell do you expect that mine will dry in only one?" He refused to move his stuff. I couldn't believe his rudeness, but then I decided it would be slightly pathetic to debate laundry room ethics with a random guy. I finally got my stuff dried and took a long nap on my nice warm flannel sheets.
Then, I went to Old Pete's for dinner. It was just one of those nights when Food Court was not appealing. The only problem is that this off-campus thing gets expensive. I guess that is what credit cards are for. I'll pay for it later. As I was sitting there, I realized that there are few things in life as good as eating a hot fudge brownie sundae on a snowy evening. My friend and I were both remarking on how content we were. You see, Dartmouth is actually quite a nice place. Yeah, there is the whole alcohol dilemma and the Berry Library crisis. But those were problems for another day. When I went home, I actually cleaned and vacuumed my room, did some reading, and started to watch a movie with my 'shmen until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. So, I went to sleep at 12:30.
You might be wondering if my random ramblings have a point. I think they do, but maybe I have been studying philosophy too much lately. I'll give it a shot anyway. First, you should be considerate when doing your laundry. Second and more obscurely profound, some days require excitement, yet there are many days whose essential meaning can be discovered in a hot fudge brownie sundae.
