August 10, 2005
roomie blues
Last quarter, my roommate Maureen and I, having gotten along swimmingly for a full year, planned to room together this year as well. We both registered each other as our preferred roommate, as we're supposed to, and both opted to live in the same form again.
Last week I got my Official Roommate Assignment letter.
Apparently I am to live with a "Guinevere" instead.
At first I thought it was because I didn't specifically email the housing people and ask to be put with Maureen, which is how we had to do it to room together last year because the online housing registration system was (a) brand new and (b) consequently fucked up. As it turns out, it's because her mom flaked on paying the housing balance on time, so that, combined with a serious over-demand for campus housing, put Maureen on a waiting list. She's not just in a different room, she's not even in the dorms at all. It's sort of up in the air as to where the hell she's going to live until anything at all frees up, much less a room in the same dorm.
Now, being me, I wanted to know something about "Guinevere" beyond her student email and phone number, so I Facebooked her. (Facebook, for those of you who don't know, is a sort of profile-based community site for college students, useful for stalking people, pestering people you knew from high school, sating the urge to fill out profiles about oneself and, oh yeah, keep up with friends. For those of you *with* Facebook, you can probably find her profile through my 'friends' list.)
Guinevere is a freshman film major from an Atlanta suburb.
Why the hell they would place a 17-year-old freshie film major with a 20-year-old 3rd-year sequential major is entirely beyond my ken. Generally, they try to keep at least your YEAR in common, if not your major.
She lists absolutely no preference in music other than "practically anything," which in my experience means she listens to Top 40 radio.
Her Wall reveals a smattering of friends who sound... er... less than intelligent... okay, they sound dippy and I hope I don't have to put up with any of them.
As for groups, I deduce the following:
"I Go To Art School And I Can't Draw or Paint"-- Wow, is she going to have fun in foundations classes.
Various 80s television-related groups such as "People Who Can't Get Enough of Uncle Jesse," "Eureeka's Castle... Damn Straight!", and "Old School Nickelodeon Kicks the Shit out of New School Nickelodeon" -- Watches TV. Which is unfortunately, because I sort of enjoyed not having a TV taking up space and being noisy and distracting.
"Jesus Freaks," "Christian Artists," "Are You Saved" and "How to Live like Christ Did" -- She's an Evangelical Christian.
The last, sadly, bothers me more than anything else. I could put up with dippy roommates with bad cultural taste and annoying friends, but do I really want to go through The Explanation with a conservative Christian?
Me: "Well, you see, it's like this. I'm gay. I like girls. Incidentally, my parents have indicated they would rather not know, which is a long story. I'm also a Christian and don't believe my orientation or the expression of it is a sin. If you'd like to know why I can certainly explain that to you but it may take a while. Is any of this going to be a problem?"
Guinevere: "Uh... I guess we can be friends as long as you know I don't approve of your lifestyle?"
Part of me feels bad for unfairly pigeonholing her. It's entirely possible that she's a perfectly nice, perfectly tolerant person with whom I will get along fine.
And, part of methinks it's even more probable that she's like most of the people I went to high school/church with and will either shun me and change in the bathroom lest I perv on her innocent virginal girlflesh, -or- try to pull a missionary friendship on me, in the style of most youth group "outreach" (by which they really mean "assimilation") efforts.
(I hated being the target of youth-group teen would-be missionaries because I tend not to like people who immediately act as if they're my BESTEST FRIEND!!! within five minutes of meeting me, especially if I'm trying my best to ignore them and go on with my reading or drawing or whatever, and proceed to ask how my relationship with Jesus is as if it is any of their business. I go on a camping trip to camp, not to have my soul nitpicked by strangers.)
Most of me is terrified at the thought that she might possibly like country music.
Last week I got my Official Roommate Assignment letter.
Apparently I am to live with a "Guinevere" instead.
At first I thought it was because I didn't specifically email the housing people and ask to be put with Maureen, which is how we had to do it to room together last year because the online housing registration system was (a) brand new and (b) consequently fucked up. As it turns out, it's because her mom flaked on paying the housing balance on time, so that, combined with a serious over-demand for campus housing, put Maureen on a waiting list. She's not just in a different room, she's not even in the dorms at all. It's sort of up in the air as to where the hell she's going to live until anything at all frees up, much less a room in the same dorm.
Now, being me, I wanted to know something about "Guinevere" beyond her student email and phone number, so I Facebooked her. (Facebook, for those of you who don't know, is a sort of profile-based community site for college students, useful for stalking people, pestering people you knew from high school, sating the urge to fill out profiles about oneself and, oh yeah, keep up with friends. For those of you *with* Facebook, you can probably find her profile through my 'friends' list.)
Guinevere is a freshman film major from an Atlanta suburb.
Why the hell they would place a 17-year-old freshie film major with a 20-year-old 3rd-year sequential major is entirely beyond my ken. Generally, they try to keep at least your YEAR in common, if not your major.
She lists absolutely no preference in music other than "practically anything," which in my experience means she listens to Top 40 radio.
Her Wall reveals a smattering of friends who sound... er... less than intelligent... okay, they sound dippy and I hope I don't have to put up with any of them.
As for groups, I deduce the following:
"I Go To Art School And I Can't Draw or Paint"-- Wow, is she going to have fun in foundations classes.
Various 80s television-related groups such as "People Who Can't Get Enough of Uncle Jesse," "Eureeka's Castle... Damn Straight!", and "Old School Nickelodeon Kicks the Shit out of New School Nickelodeon" -- Watches TV. Which is unfortunately, because I sort of enjoyed not having a TV taking up space and being noisy and distracting.
"Jesus Freaks," "Christian Artists," "Are You Saved" and "How to Live like Christ Did" -- She's an Evangelical Christian.
The last, sadly, bothers me more than anything else. I could put up with dippy roommates with bad cultural taste and annoying friends, but do I really want to go through The Explanation with a conservative Christian?
Me: "Well, you see, it's like this. I'm gay. I like girls. Incidentally, my parents have indicated they would rather not know, which is a long story. I'm also a Christian and don't believe my orientation or the expression of it is a sin. If you'd like to know why I can certainly explain that to you but it may take a while. Is any of this going to be a problem?"
Guinevere: "Uh... I guess we can be friends as long as you know I don't approve of your lifestyle?"
Part of me feels bad for unfairly pigeonholing her. It's entirely possible that she's a perfectly nice, perfectly tolerant person with whom I will get along fine.
And, part of methinks it's even more probable that she's like most of the people I went to high school/church with and will either shun me and change in the bathroom lest I perv on her innocent virginal girlflesh, -or- try to pull a missionary friendship on me, in the style of most youth group "outreach" (by which they really mean "assimilation") efforts.
(I hated being the target of youth-group teen would-be missionaries because I tend not to like people who immediately act as if they're my BESTEST FRIEND!!! within five minutes of meeting me, especially if I'm trying my best to ignore them and go on with my reading or drawing or whatever, and proceed to ask how my relationship with Jesus is as if it is any of their business. I go on a camping trip to camp, not to have my soul nitpicked by strangers.)
Most of me is terrified at the thought that she might possibly like country music.
# posted by Liadan @ 3:50 AM 
