Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1955)
PAGE 23 Sift) Oil 0 S d J 0 DAILY NEBRASKA 5) Finn) Si 01 Existence Requires Patience, Good Humor Room 230 Girls Dorm By BARB SHARP Many things have been written about the ever-suffering freshman fit college, but one aspect of freshman life is consistantly overlooked. This vital part of first year campus existence is is more trying on nerves, sanity, and scholastic average than any, other living in the Dorm. Life in the girl's Dorm requires infinite patience, continual good humor, a sound intestinal tract, an endless supply of money, and an IQ of 181. Infinite patience in the Dorm is not a virtue, it is a necessity. I am awakened at 5:30 each morning to the shrill blasts of my Big Ben alarm which my roommate set in correctly, as usual. It does not matter that I have explained and demonstrated the mechanics of set ting the clock for 6:30 every morn ing since September 13; I still am forced to get up at 5:30 to turn it off. Meals also require patience. I stand in line for breakfast, which usually takes ten minutes; 1 stand in line for lunch, which usually takes 15 minutes; and I patiently stand in the parlors to await the dinner gong in the evening, al though I am inwardly experiencing a slow death by starvation. When the gong sounds, the head resident, Miss Hanson, somehow manages to tske about three uneasy steps be fore the entire group of 390 resi dents begins the charge into the dining room. After the dining room is reached, there is a quick game of musical chairs in order that those who have not been trampled in the onslaught might find chairs. Patience Needed Patience is invaluable. At 7:30 In the evening, I decide that I want to place a phone call, so I go down to the booth in our ha!I but Kathy is talking to her Mother, who lives in Omaha. At 7:35, I go down again, but Kathy is still using the phone. At 7:40, she is still talking; at 7:55 the phone is still in use. With in finite patience, I collect every pen cil that I own, those my roommate owns, and those all the girls on the floor own, and make my way to the phone booth. I go inside, and Kathy is still talking, so I insert the first pencil in the sharpener that is located inside and grind viciously but patiently. After sharp ening 16 perils, I give up and re turn to my room in defeat, only to find that I left the key inside on the desk and I am now locked out. Patiently, I search for the house keeper who is the only one that has the authority to open doors: down in the basement, In her office, in the lobby, in the adjoining halls of Heppner and Love, and in my own hall, Raymond. When I find her, in the 'aundry room, she prom ises to come to my room immedi ately to let me in Twenty -two min utes later 1 am still waiting pa tiently. Doing the laundry is an interest- ing experience if you have patience. I collect my 6 blouses. 15 pairs of socks, assorted skirts, and jeans and head for the laundry room. Aft er three hours of waiting, I seize upon a moment when, for some totally unexplainable reason, no one is using one ot the twe machines available for the use of 390 girls. I throw in the clothes and turn on the water, only to find that the plug is out of the bottom; but I rescue my clothes before they go down the d. :n and insert the plug. With excess patience, 1 manipulate the switch, turn the handle, pull the lever, put the dime in the money box, and struggle with the wringer for twenty minutes until all the parts are Working together. I put the lid of the machine in place, only to have it fall into the machine because it is the lid belonging to the other machine which is some what smaller. When my clothes have been sufficiently mutilated by the violent actions of the machine, I start -to put them through the wringer. The first blouse, my yel low one, falls on the floor because the machine is too far from the tubs. The second blouse gets caught in the wringer and is wound around the roller five times before I can seize a mop handle to hit the wringer release. I rescue my blouse but the wringer is now out of adjustment Therefore the next blouse that I put through is as wet after it conies through the rollers as it was before I inserted it. Still making use of my patience, I decide to put the clothes, dripping though they be, into the automatic dryer. After waiting another two hours, my turn for use of the dryer fin ally comes, and I stuff the clothes into the automatic; first the blouses then the skirts, then my socks, and finally the jeans. I deposit a quar- 1 ' - - ' . : &b.v..' . .. .... 5 ,. f """"" v 11 h. I 1 COEDS get ready to board the bus and leave for a weekend in their home towns. ter and turn the time regulator to 90 minutes. At the end of 90 min utes, the clothes are still dripping wet, but I merely hang them on the clothes racks After all, what can you expect for a quarter? The next day, I find that my clothes are gone and in their place I find three orange towels marked Sue, a faded pair of jeans vith ATO painted on them, and a piHow case with the name Ann stamped on it which also sports a cigaret hole in the center. After posting three signs in the lobby pleading to have my clothes re turned, I am again in possession of my belongings; the only thing I have' lost in the process is pa tience. Good humor is an essential qual ity. When my roommate receives a phone call from Rex (A football player she pero-worships), she leaves our room at a pace which would put Native Dancer to shame. What except good humor could carry me Shrough these situations? As she storms from the room, I back into a corner to protect my self from falling objects as she pro gressively: upsets the ironing board, knocks my geology book, journal ism nter, English text, and Span ish dictionary from the shelf of the bookcase, sends the alarm clock hurtling into the hall, scatters her public health papers from one end 1 our spacious 4' x 5' room to the other, and closes the door so vio lently that It knocks the picture of a "Summer's Day in Holland" off the wall. I merely smile when I receive my Omaha World-Herald newspaper torn in five pieces, because the girl who sorts the mail couldn't get it in the tiny mail box in one piece. I smile, when, after receiving a (Continued on Page 24) s 1 ft 7 We'll see you at REGENTS BOOK STORE where you can be sure of getting textbooks and supplies which have been approved by your instructors. a a o You can rely on REGENTS because REGENTS is the only official book store of the University of Nebraska. 0 C 13 1 Just North of Love Library