Hi, and welcome back to my TED Talk that no one asked for. I need to rant again. I enjoyed it the first time and I know I’m going to enjoy it now. We’re going to ditch the Otavalo post I originally had planned for today… So if that was what you were looking for, I’m genuinely sorry. That post will go up next Sunday for sure. Something is really frustrating me currently. I just wanna get it off my chest and see if anyone out there can help me out. So I got a new suite mate this semester and she seems nice. There are a couple of things that I need to rant about though, not necessarily about her but about my current living situation and a struggle of mine…
One of my issues, she has a cat and I’m allergic. Not deathly allergic, but I’m allergic enough to the point that their hair being in the area makes my immune system go all haywire. I touch a cat and my body is like “Ana, what the heck are you doing?!?” She’s allowed to have the cat in the room because it’s considered an ESA, or emotional support animal. I don’t really care if it’s an “emotional support” animal, to be quite honest. ESA or not, I’m still allergic to it. I understand the need for them and I get how they can be helpful but who in their right mind allowed that to happen?
I’ve never seen or made contact with the cat, but the fact that one lives next door to me and I share a bathroom with the room that the cat is in, makes me nervous. I hope if it comes to someone moving, it’s not me. I have lived in the hall I’m currently living in for the past year and a half now and in my specific room for the past semester, so I feel that I should get a bit more say. Let’s just say that I’m very excited to be getting my own apartment next year.
My second issue is that I KEEP GETTING LOCKED OUT OF MY BATHROOM. Here’s where my true rant begins. It doesn’t matter how many texts I send, it keeps happening. With my previous suite mate, that was an issue too. She kept forgetting to unlock the door on my side so I couldn’t use our bathroom. For a bit of insight, the bathrooms in the suite style room can lock from both sides. I can lock it from my room, preventing my suite mate from coming into my room. I can also lock the bathroom doors while I’m taking care of business so no one comes into the bathroom. Hopefully that’s understandable. Last semester, I was locked out of my bathroom a total of five times. Just after our second week of classes this semester, I’ve already been locked out twice. I’m. Over. It.
I get that it’s just a door handle and that maybe I shouldn’t be getting as worked up as I am, but I’m fed up. It happened way too many times last semester and I just hate having to send that awkward message, “Hey, could you unlock the bathroom door please? I can’t get in from my side…”. A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do though…It makes me feel so pathetic! But also, how hard is it to remember to unlock the door?! I haven’t forgotten a single time. And I’m true to my word when I say that. I have never forgotten, partially because I believe it isn’t that difficult. People can be forgetful. I’m forgiving of many things but I’m starting to feel a lot less forgiving and patient. Ugh.
Imagine really needing to use the bathroom after a class and rushing back to your room, only for your bathroom door to be locked and no suite mate in sight to unlock it. I’ve been there. Imagine getting all ready to go shower after a good workout at the gym, again to be turned away by a locked bathroom door and no suite mate to respond and open it. I’ve been there. The amount of times I’ve now had to just go use the bathroom on the main floor has been ridiculous. This issue exists with both the past and present suite mates.
I’ve been wanting to put up little sticky notes on both doors exiting the bathroom that say something like “Don’t forget to unlock the door!” just to prevent any locking-out, but I feel like that’s too passive-aggressive. If anyone has any suggestions for my situation, please let me know. I would gladly appreciate it and take any suggestions into consideration.
So on that note, I’d just like to leave you all with this advice: Be aware. Be aware of your surroundings, those around you, and just everything in the world. You’ll be better off that way. Thanks for letting me rant this week also. 🙂
See you next Sunday, back to our regularly scheduled programming with continued stories of my study abroad in Ecuador. And I promise I won’t post another spontaneous rant like this for a while. Have a good week everyone.