Opening Remarks and a Rant on Noise Complaints

This is my first blog that I have ever written. There's a reason for that. I feel stupid pouring my thoughts out onto the internet for strangers, friends, and family to indulge in. Then I remembered how much I tweet and update my Facebook status. Please don't expect this to be like any other stereotypical gay blog. (If you didn't know I was gay, this probably got really awkward for you really fast.) There will be no discussions about fashion, celebrities, or the latest episode of Sex and the City--although you will probably hear quite a bit about Glee. I will not apologize for that. I will mainly be bitching about my job as an R.A., and hopefully be providing you with funny little anecdotes from experiences with my residents, and quite possibly with my co-workers as well. Please don't correct my grammar; this is not the Wall Street Journal, and I haven't taken an English class in two years. Also, I cuss. I will not apologize for that either. Alright, so, let's get down to business. (Brief pause to let you finish the Mulan song in your head, or if you are brave enough, out loud).

So, there is this little thing in the world of R.A.-dom called a "noise complaint." It is by far my least favorite call to get while I am on duty, followed closely by lock-outs. The reason I hate noise complaints so much is because I should not be having to deal with them in the first place. There are always so many opportunities for the noise complaints to be taken care of before they need to get to me, yet they will 100% of the time trickle down to the R.A. on duty. First of all, we are all living on a college campus. This means we all know how to read. (Yes, I know I attend an open enrollment university, and I shouldn't just assume these things. I guess I just have to much faith in people). I digress. Assuming all of my residents can read, I can also assume that they have read the signs all over the hallways stating when quiet hours begin and end. Alas, our residents don't think that certain rules apply to them. This leads to the start of the noise complaint. Now, for there to be a noise complaint, there has to be someone that the noise is bothering. I understand that your neighbor's music is too loud and that is affecting your sleep or your study time. What I don't understand is why you can't walk your lazy ass next door and ask them to turn their music down yourself. Instead, they have to call in the third party, the R.A. on duty, to come all the way upstairs at 2 a.m. to ask the person to turn the shit off. Then, my absolute favorite is when the noisy residents decide to start giving me attitude for always bothering them about their music. Reasons I am now upset: 1. It's a noise complaint, 2: It's 2 a.m., 3. You're giving me all sorts of fever because you can't stand to listen to "Call Me Maybe" on anything less than the "blow your hair back" setting on your stereo. Oh, ok. I'll remember that.

Before I go to bed, (since it's 3 a.m. and I am on duty right now,) I would like to talk about what I call the "Phantom Noise Complaint." I just responded to two of these not even 5 minutes ago. This is when the desk worker calls you and says there is a noise complaint for a specific room or area, and you go check it out, and you don't hear a single damn thing coming from any room. Now, if I go up to your hallway and can't hear any noise, then THERE IS NO NOISE. If you would like to go all Sherlock Holmes on the joint and launch an investigation into finding the source of the noise, by all means, figure it out and let me know what you find, but I refuse to go seek out a noise that, in my mind, doesn't exist.

I apologize if this post was a little dry, or not very entertaining. It's my first go at this. It is also past 3 a.m. and I am having trouble even forming complete ideas at this point. I wish I had time to tell you all about the ridiculous things that have happened to me on the job so far this semester, but I'm about to fall asleep right here on my keyboard. If you made it through this entire post, then congratulations, and thank you for reading.

Until next time,

D-Rock