The Crossroads Lie (part 2)

Part 1 is here
Part 3 is here

As Hiroo's mom left for the supermarket, I took him to the Kinshicho (錦糸町) starbucks (the same one his mom worked at), got him a juice, then sat at a table. I then started telling the kid my "crossroads lie" story...

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A few months after I was accepted at the University of Chicago, I received a dormitory questionare form. All freshmen were required to live on campus in a dorm the first year and the form asked basic questions about my habits, sleep schedule and so forth as they tried to match me with an appropriate roommate. I checked off that I was basically an otaku (or geek)... that I was quiet, and didn't like loud music or parties.... when I arrived on campus, I realized they had paired me with the exact opposite type of roommate. They paired me with MARK, a jock/football player.

As I got in Chicago with my brother, I literally had dozens of boxes of COOKIES, chocolates, and drinks. Like with most Asian parents, they showed me their love in typical Asian fashion....they gave me tons of food.

The dorm I was staying at was called "Hitchcock-Snell". At the time, it was a separate gender dorm where all the guys stayed on the Hitchcock side and all the girls on the Snell side. The guy side of the building was subdivided into 5 blocks, or sections; sections 1 and 5 had the largest rooms while the smaller rooms were in sections 2-4. I was assigned to section 4 with Mark.

As my brother and I arrived into the room with my clothes, Atari computer and truckloads of junk food, I see Mark sitting at the table drinking a beer. There were two level "bunk-beds" on the other side. Another football player named "JD" was sitting on Mark's lower bunk, while still another guy named "Tiny" (who literally looked like he weighed 400 pounds) sat on my top bunk.

"Hey roommate, how about a beer?" asked Mark (and yes Mark, I vividly remember those were your first words to me)."

"Um, ok thanks." I replied.

At this point, my brother was a bit concerned. He asked if I was going to be okay, to which I replied "probably." Reluctantly, after a bit, he left to go back to Toledo.

After that, I sat with those guys for the next few hours. And to be honest, they were very nice. I talked to JD a bit about his guitar playing, and Mark about life in Chicago. It was amazing to hear them talking about "jock stuff" such as football practice, drinking, and of course, girls. For me, up until that point, these types of conversations only occurred in movies.

A couple hours later, there was a knock at the door. It was the dorm supervisor (or resident head); a guy by the name of Pat Gilbert. He came in to say hello to me, and asked if we could talk outside. I said sure.

We walked from section 4 to his apartment in section 5, which had the largest rooms of the dorm. On that walk I saw several empty section 5 rooms, and they were very spacious.

"Wow, these rooms are awesome. Can freshmen take these?" I asked.

"No." relied Pat, "These are for upperclassmen only. Mostly seniors"

We got to Pat's apartment and he introduced me to his wife, Karen. They offered me coffee and some cookies as we sat down for a chat.

He told me that there was a mistake in the housing setup, and that they knew I requested a roommate that was quiet. However due to the screwup, they paired me with the exact opposite. He was very apologetic about this, but said that there was nothing he could do at this point. However, he said that if there were any problems that I should go to him immediately.

I actually didn't have too many problems with those guys to be honest, but for some reason I didn't tell him that. I did say thanks and a few minutes later got up to leave.

As I was walking back to section 4, through sheer luck, I ran a guy that I have not seen for about 6-7 years ... Tim Fischer. Tim was a resident of Alexandria that I went to school with until about the 6th grade. At that point his family moved to Pittsburgh and we lost touch. Some of the people in Alexandria will probably remember him. It turned that he also went to UC (but only for the 1st year).

As we passed each other in the hallway, we were both in shock.

"John?" asked Tim.

"Oh my god, Tim?" I replied.

HOLY SHIT, what a coincidence! We spent the rest of the evening in his room (along with his roommate Dave Rainey) catching up. By the time we were done chatting, it was around 5AM. Tim knew there was a party at my room, so he suggested that I just crash on his sofa, which I did.

I got up around 11AM the next day, and started going back to my room. As I arrived, I see the resident head, Pat standing outside frantic.

"John, where were you?" ask Pat.

"Oh I just crashed elsewhere." I replied. "No worries."

"Well, John I am so sorry, I went in to see if things were all right, but when I didn't see I started to panic. I am so sorry" said Pat.

"Sorry about what?" I asked.

"Look inside" replied Pat.

I opened the door to my room. The place was a mess. Apparently the guys had some other people come over and had a party after I left. They then got the "munchies" and opened EVERY BOX of cookies that my parents had given me. It was actually quite a vivid image ... the floor was just littered with half-eaten fig newtons.

"Oh shit." I replied. But to be honest I was sort relieved not to have to eat all that stuff.

"Just hang on one second." said Pat. He then left the room.

I then had my first Chicago breakfast which consisted of day-old pizza, fig newtons and Michelob beer.... "let the good times roll..." I thought to myself.

Pat came back about 20 minutes later. He looked like a nervous wreak.

"John I just spoke to my boss about this situation. Now you just told me because of the party.. YOU SLEPT OUTSIDE LAST NIGHT. IF THAT'S THE CASE, WE WILL MOVE YOU TO YOUR OWN ROOM IN SECTION 5 RIGHT NOW...at no extra charge." said Pat.

"So you slept outside last night because of the party?" asked Pat.

I hesitated for a moment. HOLY SH*T...

"Oh, YEAH. I DID SLEEP OUTSIDE." I replied while looking at the floor.

"Oh my god." replied Pat. "That is awful. I will process your transfer now."

With that, I became one of the first freshmen to have my own room in section 5 (a penthouse suite) which was at the same price as my section 4 room.

The room got me enormous clout with the upperclassmen. JD knew immediately that I "worked the system" to get that room, as did a few others. Eventually I also became good friends with Mark and the rest of the football crew...

One of the other upperclassmen eventually got me a job in the chemistry department with Professor Burdett, who was one of the first people on campus to have a supercomputer cluster.

I learned Unix from that job which eventually led me into going to IT.... had I not told that "crossroads lie" I probably would not be in IT today.

Hiroo looked at me in shock after I told him that ...

"Uncle John, YOU ARE HORRIBLE!!! 悪いいいいい [bad!!!]" replied Hiroo.

He reached into his wallet and handed me 1000 yen.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"I am ashamed that you bought me this juice! How could you LIE LIKE THAT????" yelled Hiroo.

Part 1 is here
Part 3 is here