A tube of raisins, a jar of Nutella, and thou

I walked into the common room when everyone else was at dinner and found Sal there.  He was sitting next to an open container of raisins, an open jar of Nutella, and a chocolate-smeared knife.  He was gazing at his laptop and chewing something.

Full of certainty in my morally superior dietary views, I decided to intervene.  

"Is that your dinner?" I asked.  "That's not dinner."

Sal swallowed and gave me a hostile stare.  "No," he said truthfully.  "That's someone else's Nutella knife."

Thus, the picture below is merely a fabrication.

The return

Sal was away for some of January, but he came back!  And we rejoiced.

Worth not being able to decorate the urinal

At college, I live in a suite (nom de plume “Mopkins 5E”) with three guys and two other girls.  We girls had not met the guys until we all moved in this year.  At first we were apprehensive about having to share a bathroom with this unknown quantity.  Having guys around meant that we couldn’t decorate the urinal with wreaths and flowers, as is sometimes done by all-girl suites.  And there were plenty of other worries.  What if they were mean?  What if they were messy?  What if they liked country music?

HOWEVER.  It only took a few days for all six of us to feel like we won the life lottery.  Our suite is clean and quiet and everyone is nice to each other, just like in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.  Every time I’m feeling down, the guys cheer me up without even knowing that anything is wrong—just by being themselves.  Here are some examples of the happenings that have gone down in our common room:

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Pierre-Marie:  (thoughtful) Are there any symptoms of suicide?

Skyler:  (matter-of-fact) Well, death.

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Skyler:  (anxious) Oh no, is that rain?

Sal:  (disbelieving) No, it’s just a bunch of people standing outside and going psspsspsspsspsss.

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One night, Tiberius and Skyler and Sal were waiting for Pierre-Marie so they could get late-night pizza.  This is their evening ritual; they eat pizza and play whist at the sticky tables while classic rock music blasts overhead, solidifying the campus-pub feeling. 

Pierre-Marie was taking forever to get ready.  Tiberius got frustrated by the waiting and put his jacket over his head like a tent.  

"Wheeere's Tiberius?" I asked in a singsongy voice.

"I don't know," said Sal.  "I haven't developed object permanence yet."

I laughed so hard that I almost threw up.  So this is my tribute to the guys of Mopkins 5E:  you are the best, and you bring this joy to my life every day.

Suitemate Sal got a whiteboard