My freshman year of college, I lived in a lounge with six other guys for the first semester. This is what happens when there is not enough room in the dorms for all those who come to college. You’re stuck there until housing finds a space for you. It was there that I met Kris, or Muffin as he came to be known. Bill lived on the same floor and was fortunate to have an actual room. This is how Burlington became apart of my life. It’s odd to think how I have more friends from that border town than I do from the one I grew up in.
The only slice of privacy in the lounge was a door that locked behind you. Inside, a maze of bunk beds, clothes racks, and desks, the center piece being a small television with Nintendo64 attached. Mario Kart was the typical drug of choice, at least for me. We spent… No, wasted a lot time with that damn thing. Coming home from class one afternoon, I unlock the door only to find Bill sitting there on the floor, controller in hand. I say hello, proceed to put my things down, and notice that Bill’s the only guy in the lounge. This guy who actually has a room (a room with a private toilet and shower, mind you) is hanging out in my camp-like home. Turns out that he didn’t have class till later and everyone had left. It kind of burned me, but we still laugh about it now.
Anyhow, Bill’s married now. Erin was probably the most ecstatic bride that I have ever seen. I will admit, I got to the ceremony five minutes late. I blame this on the “older” couple and their motorcycle that I got stuck behind the entire way through town, pounding on the steering wheel in frustration during the ten mile per hour tour through Burlington. The reception, although I could be one to argue with my assigned seat(for I did suffer a whole semester of living with this guy), was awesome. I shamefully missed the bachelor party, but this made up for it ten fold. It was wonderful to see everyone again.
This time, I stayed out of the garter toss. I caught the one at Zach and Cristin’s wedding. I opted to avoid such luck again.