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Monday, December 17, 2018

the lost boys

We picked up Meego for winter break from college last Friday.  He'd moved to a new dorm just the weekend before, and for that, I'm grateful.

One of Meego's good friends from high school also attends this university.  They'd tried to room together, but didn't get all their info in on time apparently.  But no biggie, they still hang out.  The university has an app that's "kinda like Tinder" where incoming freshmen can peruse profiles and find compatible roommates and get to know each other a little ahead of time.  Seems like a good thing, in theory.

So Meego found a roommate through the app. We met him on move-in day, and he seemed like a nice enough guy.  And he does have some good traits... but those traits are all fuzzed because of the copious amounts of drugs the dude uses.

It's sad really.  Meego says he'd start smoking weed first thing after waking up in the morning, and he's clearly addicted to JUUL pods.  In the short time Meego's known him, the roommate's done Molly, mushrooms, and cocaine, along with weed and booze and who-knows-what-else.  He says he won't do PCP. Well, nice to know the kid has discriminating tastes.

When we met the kid on move in day, he came across as outgoing and friendly, excited to be in college.  I'd say he had "the look" of a potential partyer, but a good portion of college kids have that look.  Meego says there were times when people would come into the room and roommate would just be staring into space with his mouth open, oblivious to others in the room.

Meanwhile, Meego's HS friend was in a 4-bed suite.  One of the 4 messed himself up by mixing alcohol and Xanax.  Twice.  He was sent packing after the second strike, another sad story.

But hey, there's a silver lining.  Meego and HS buddy and HS buddy's remaining suitemates started thinking about Meego moving out of the drug den an into the vacated 4th bed.  Meego was dealing with the situation pretty well, but still, Magnum and I were all, "Hell yeah, see what you gotta do".

So they made it happen.  I thought the university would just wait until the start of next semester, but they moved Meego a week before the break, and we picked him up from the new digs.  Not only does Meego have better roommates, it's just a nicer dorm - newer and nicer facilities.

This helped to not hurt druggie roommate's feelings.

Meego:  So my friend's got a vacancy in his suite, and I'm gonna move into it.
Drug dude:  Oh, cool.  Yeah, that's a nicer dorm
Meego:  Yah...

Meego let the ex-roomie keep the (our) dorm fridge and microwave since he would otherwise have to go without.  The ex will supposedly pay Meego for them, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  I think the whole thing has Meego appreciating where he is now


Got any "interesting" dorm / roommate experiences to share?



13 comments:

Margaret (Peggy or Peg too) said...

Wow! What a hot mess the ex-roomie is.
Seriously, I feel bad for this roommate, he needs rehab more than college right now.
I am glad to hear that Meego could move to the suite. No one should have to deal with what was going on in his room.
Where do kids get all this money for all this stuff? I realize it's legal where you live but it's still not free and he does all those other drugs to boot. $$
Instead of saying I walked to school uphill both ways I will say I had to hide the smoking and only had papers to roll or a corncob pipe and it cost us $5 for a bag and it sucked. Times were tough Abby in the 70's. :-)

LL Cool Joe said...

My younger daughter smokes weed and it's not legal here in the UK. Does my head in. As someone who has never taken drugs or smoked I just don't understand why anyone would want to waste money on crap like that. But obviously I don't feel the need to be high.

Linda Hensley said...

I just lost someone from an OD. I wish I could shake some sense into people who keep messing with drugs. Good for Meego for getting a better dorm. Wishing help for the guy he left behind.

Abby said...

Margaret, I'm wondering where the money comes from too. I'm also wondering why the parents are paying the guy's tuition - he's openly said he doesn't intend to get a degree. But yeah, I feel bad for him as well as Xanax kid who didn't even last one semester.

Joey, since recreational pot became legal, I honestly don't think anyone's taken up the habit who wasn't already doing it before it was legal. I don't get it either.

Linda, I don't understand the appeal of drugs or what makes someone get on that path, let alone where to even find all that stuff!

Chatty Crone said...

I am thrilled he moved out and did not get caught up on it.

Did you think of telling the President about the boy on drugs?

Annsterw said...

What! What a mess! I guess that's part of what we all go through with college though… I had a few real doozies too! Life experiences that make us appreciate what we have and where were at! I am so glad you got to pick him up and bring him home for break too! Got to be good to have him home! Glad you got everything worked out and he ended up better off anyway… Always great when things work out! it is truly sad when people are stuck in addiction… What a horrible way to live every day day in and day out… But don't try to tell them that because as I know from my friend apparently that is what they prefer!

Ginny said...

Glad he got out of there! I would not want to be around that and certainly wouldn't want my kid around that. Your son has a good head on his shoulders.

Abby said...

Chatty, Meego didn't even know the ex vaped until move-in week. I was glad to know that bothered him. Turned out the vaping was the least of the matter!

Ann, yes, it's nice to have him home on break. I figured he would be exposed to the wild 'n' crazy that parts of college can be and glad he's seeing the downside of it all. I feel bad for those kids, though.

Ginny, I'm glad with how Meego dealt with it and glad he got out of there too!

Brian said...

Glad your son was able to get his roommate situation resolved! My elder son had a similar issue his freshman year. His roommate at first appeared to be a normal 18 year old kid, but as the first semester wore on, the facade faded. Roomie was a slob, would claim to have lost credit cards and have his parents send another, only to find the lost card under a pile of dirty laundry or behind his bunk or in the debris that littered the floor on his side of the room. He'd hang out with a group of other kids interested in nothing but smoking pot.

My son was no neat freak, but he kept his half of the room respectable (or at least he cleaned up pretty good before we would visit), and he let roomie know how he felt about the pig sty he was maintaining. Roomies parents even apologized to my son a few times for the mess of a room their son kept.

In the early part of the 2nd semester his roomie decided to move out and split a room with one of his dope smoking buddies. One of the kids in that room was more than happy to get out and join my son in a "normal" room. University approved the swap and they all lived happily ever after. Have no clue if the dope smoking pig-pen ever graduated, but I don't think his odds were all that great.

Abby said...

Brian, based on what I've seen and heard, there's a fair amount of roommate shuffling that goes on first semester of freshman year. That's a pretty sloppy roommate if the parents are apologizing!

Morgan Cartwright said...

That's bananas on the roommate, but it's like Tinder or any dating type app, you never know what you will really receive. Thank goodness for silver linings and the moving of dorms. I hope he does pay for the microwave and fridge.

And thank goodness for Winter Break! Wishing everyone all the fun times. :)

ShadowRun300 said...

Aww. That really is sad. I feel for him and his parents. I see so much of that stuff around here, and it breaks my heart.
Glad Meego had a great excuse to move out. Should be a much less stressful semester - for everyone.
Enjoy your time together over the holidays! I’m so looking forward to seeing my kids. And did you hear I’m moving back first week of January!! Super excited. :)

Abby said...

Morgan, I'm pretty sure Tinder people don't disclose everything either...

SR300, Happy holidays to you too! Gettin' outta Joplin??