It’s the Sunday morning after a nighttime football game. Your hair is in some weird, muffin-shaped bun that kind of smells like barbecue sauce, you’re wearing the oversized Red Sox shirt that your ex-boyfriend gave you, and you’re so tired that you can’t even form a “good morning” greeting yet. Now ideally, no living human should be forced to see you in this most primitive state, but lucky for you, your roommates don’t mind. Because, hey, they probably look just as disheveled and sleepy as you do. Roommates may come in all shapes, sizes, ages and genders, but the best roommates start as people who share your living space and leave as your best friends. So here’s a formal “thank you” to those who clean our messy dishes that we forgot about, those who don’t wake us up even when they’re making breakfast at 6 a.m., and even if they do wake us up, they’ll reluctantly share their omelette and waffles.
Thank you for…
1. Never letting me freak out alone, whether it’s over an upcoming exam, a first date or something small but equally panic-inducing like running out of my favorite mascara on the morning that sorority composites are being taken. Because honestly, what would I do without having people to come home to who calm me down and help me answer those nerve-wracking text messages that make me want to throw my phone across the room?
2. Eating a full box of Oreos with me… all in one sitting. There is no such thing as shame or judgement between our four walls because we’re probably too busy stuffing our faces to think about silly things like that.
3. Listening to my bad singing. I cannot even count the number of times I’ve randomly started singing a terrible rendition of “Trap Queen” or some other rap song that I only know 20 percent of the words to. You could buy ear plugs, but instead you pretend to love it (and put it as your Snapchat story).
4. Letting me cuddle in bed with you. No boundaries exist and that’s the way it should be. I won’t even have to worry if you’ll text me back the next day or not (mostly because you live in the room next to me).
5. Always letting me persuade you to come out with me. I know you have that 32 problem WebAssign homework due at midnight, but you’ve been working on it all day so you don’t even feel guilty about going to Ladies’ Night with me.
6. Washing the dishes when I’m too busy to. I know that oatmeal sticks onto the bowl unless you rinse it out immediately, but thank you for not minding having to scrub sometimes. It’s probably just like an added arm workout, right?
7. Not setting the kitchen on fire… yet. I know a small flame appeared that one time you were making popcorn, but I am grateful that its spark died quicker than the one between me and the guy I took to my last date function.
8. Going for midnight runs to get ice cream with me. Or chili cheese fries. Or Jimmy John’s. Nothing says true friendship more than leaving our apartment together with no bra on and no idea why we’re so hungry at 12:36 a.m. on a Tuesday.
9. Truly following the “what’s yours is mine” rule, especially when it comes to clothes. How sad would life be if I could only choose from my sad selection of rompers and crop tops? And how is it that the outfits I own that look bad on me look great on you and vice versa?
10. Signing a lease with me. Really, I wouldn’t want to be legally bound to live with anybody else for the next 11 months.
Out of the 50,000 people here at UF, I couldn’t be happier to be stuck with you. You could steal my jewelry without asking, eat all of my popcorn, or you could bring an entire group of frat boys over when I’m wearing my towel turban coming straight out of the shower with no makeup on. But you don’t because you are wonderful humans, you are my best friends and most importantly, you are the people who pay the overage of utilities with me every month. I wouldn’t want to split that $0.68 charge with anyone else.
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