When living away from home while in college, most people stay in the residence halls on campus, other times people choose to move off campus. In the bay area, specifically Marin County, living off campus in an apartment or a house is rather pricey. Since it is so difficult to find a place for one or two people that is affordable, instead it's very common for a two bedroom apartment to be filled with four college students. But what happens when four boys live in an apartment and each one of them have girlfriends? Well, it is an experience that is like no other that is for sure.
Let me go on record to say I do not officially pay rent but I wash the dishes, cook and vacuum so that must count for something right?
1. Two is a party and three is a crowd. WRONG!
Eight is a crowd but eight is also a party! It may be hard to walk around the kitchen but at least you are always having a party.
2. Plastic cups and cutlery do not go in the trash!
Most of the normal silverware and cups are a small eclectic collection from everyone’s homes or a gift from that random aunt you never talk to. That means that there is never enough clean dishes to provide for everyone in the apartment. You have to bring your own. That’s why when you go to Chipotle always ask for a fork and knife even though you got a burrito.
3. You can never have enough fans!
When six people are sleeping in the same bedroom it gets more than a little toasty. If you can win the fan for the night, you are guaranteed to be sleeping on a cloud of wonderful for the night.
4. Who do these eggs belong to?
In college gas is a novelty so driving to any other store that isn't the Safeway across the street is out of the question. This means that everyone buys the exact same eggs every week. Being the girlfriend that mostly does the cooking, I typically find myself asking, “Which eggs are yours?” and the typical response is “The one in the cardboard box.”
5. One word: Socks!
All you want to do is go to sleep at a reasonable hour but when you turn the corner and there is a sock on the door handle, you know that means at least 20 more minutes that you have to spend in the living room watching Family Guy or someone playing video games.
6. Parking passes
In apartment complexes, parking is scarce so most places require a parking permit. People that do not live in the complex are not eligible for a pass so we risk getting a giant green warning sticker on our window. Or we have to park seven minutes away on a hill, only to hope someone will come pick us up and bring us to the top of the hill.
7. Who is this person on the couch?
Half the time you walk in the door and there is some random person on the couch in the family room. It is typical to assume that they know the people that live in the apartment so you talk to them like it is not weird. The second you see someone that actually lives in the apartment you whisper, “Who the heck is that?” Being that there are eight people in the apartment, it is about a twelve percent chance that they actually know the person too.
8. Fighting for the bathroom
Whenever we are planning to go out, or we are just getting ready for the day, it is a fight for the bathroom. With the boys spending twenty minutes on the toilet doing their weekly crosswords and twiddling their thumbs, there is not much time to do our makeup or curl our hair. Most of the time we have to find other places to get ready. Two people are usually using the mirror in the front walkway, someone is on the floor in the bedroom and it wouldn't be surprising if someone was using an outlet in the kitchen.
Whether you live with two, three or eight people, you know that there are struggles when living with others. In the end, the fun times is what you will hold onto and I am truly grateful that I had the chance to spend my freshman year with the seven craziest people.
Apartment 241 and friends, thank you for the lifetime of memories.
