The Undergrads Next Door
I don't know why I'm so mean about undergrads.
College was the best experience of my life. In fact I dreamed about St. Lawrence last night, and woke up thinking about people I haven't seen in four years. So part of me wonders if my disdain for the Tulane and Loyola undergrads is based in jealousy. We live six to eight blocks away from both universities. They frequent the pool next door at all hours of the day. Splash splash. Yesterday one got in a drunken fight with another one. Oh, the drama.
I think a good part of it is that, at St. Lawrence, the majority of students lived on campus. We lived there, we ate there, we partied there (we did venture to the bar on a semi-weekly basis however), we hung out there. Mostly this was because there wasn't much of anywhere to hang out off campus. There were three bars. Maybe five or six restaurants (I think this is including the Pizza Hut). And we did, in fact, have to walk uphill both ways in three feet of snow, when I went to college. Now that was old school. So I feel very suspicious of this model of city campus life, where the undergrads live mingled amongst the real people, in apartments. With cars that they drive badly all over Uptown while on cell phones. Also, they wear poofy sack-like dresses and leggings. I can't believe they are serious about the leggings, which I thought were cool in approximately fifth grade.
I am very suspicious of all of this. And I feel sort of sorry for them too. Because at St. Lawrence, when we all lived together, you always had a friend within steps. You didn't have to drive. The bar was within walking distance. Everyone stalked everyone else in the same dining hall. We didn't have cell phones, and we didn't need them, because we were all right there. And there were never any "real people" around to roll their eyes at us and clue us in to the fact that things we were doing might not have been quite as cool as we thought. There was a sense of "us." I liked it that way. It's a unique benefit of going to college in the middle of nowhere.
I have fond memories of undergrad. But that doesn't mean I think undergrads should be let out, so the rest of us have to deal with them.
3 comments:
I live in between BU and BC on the B Line, and let me tell you, I hate HATE both sets of college students with the intensity of a fiery thousand suns. I think it has less to do with them as individuals--cause I love my Emerson students--and more to do with the fact that as a herd, they have no concept of decency for "normal" non-college folk. At SLU, or juvenile ass hatness was contained to campus... on these so-called city campuses, the ass hatness spills over onto working people turf. And us working stiffs have to get up rather early... so we like our sleep. That and it amazes me how incredibly inept these kids are. For example, I lived downstairs from a group of kids--boys and girls--a couple years ago that rather than take their garbage to the curb, liked to fling it out the window. Which resulted in burst garbage bags. And rotting meat. During the height of an extremely hot and humid Boston summer. Again, I blame this on the fact that parents really don't prepare their kids for the responsiblity of living on their own. Kids are told to pick up after themselves and what not, but I don't think they grasp the concept of responsibility. Again, in comparison, at SLU we never had to worry about stuff like this cause there was always a cleaning staff and what not. Hell, we even had people to fix our food. So you put a bunch of kids out on their own and expect them to act like adults when they're clearly not? Good luck with that!
Damn kids...
My mom used to call it The Country Club. :-P But seriously, it's a better approach than letting them loose on other tenants, residents, neighbors, etc. I think I would have felt bad about being loud and obnoxious in college if, for instance, I knew there were people with little kids next door. But the students around here don't really seem to give a shit. I liked that college for me was a sort of intermediate step between home and real life... we paid the phone bill and kept the immediate room clean, and someone else cooked for us and generally kept the building from going to hell. That intermediate step is sort of missing on these urban campuses. I don't think an 18 year old is necessarily ready to have an entire apartment. Especially next to "real" people who keep to a schedule.
I shouldn't complain about the kids next door. Apparently they have been a LOT worse. But they do have this yappy little dog I feel sorry for. If your dog is barking like that FOR HOURS when you are home and partying, you're not paying attention to it. And you probably aren't ready for a pet.
So yeah, totally with you there.
I know of a shotgun in Old Gretna that will be up for rent soon :) Barring that, ummm, earplugs?
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