Lisa lived down the hall from me in my freshman dorm. Since I didn’t get along with my roommate at first, I was a bit desperate eager to make other friends. Lisa and her roommate quickly became the girls I hung out with.
We shared many special moments together, watching the guys across the hall play video games, sharing slightly dirty jokes and quizzes we’d received via the Electronic Mail (It was quite the newfangled technology back then!), and watching less-than-uplifting movies late into the night.
Later there would be laughter and tears, dances and parties, dreams and hopes, weddings and funerals – but let’s be honest. Those first few weeks were all about shallow, silly, just-got-away-from-our-parents fun.
Lisa and I weren’t super close, but we were part of a close group. And aside from a few disagreements (I’m sorry, but nobody should be allowed to listen to Insane Clown Posse at full volume. Nobody.), we got along well. So when it came time to choose roommates for our sophomore year, it made sense that she and I would room together, sharing a bathroom with two of our other girlfriends.
As you probably know, living together is different than being friends with someone. You’ve got the sleeping arrangements (you want to go to bed how early?), the study habits (you want to study how often?), and the dating protocols (you want me to make myself scarce because why?). You get to know a person, and notice things you might not have noticed before.
Like this:
“Ummmm, Mary, when did you dye your hair?”
“Huh, what?”
“Your hair! You’ve got a blonde streak! Has that always been there?”
“Oh yeah, that. Yup, since the day I was born. You hadn’t noticed?”
It’s true. I have a blonde streak in my otherwise plain brown hair. I have a lot of hair, so sometimes – apparently my entire freshman year – the streak gets buried. It’s a birthmark, a sign that God was feeling a little creative that day. My mom has one and, strangely enough, so does my dad’s mom. So pretty much I was doomed destined to have one.
And Lisa had never noticed it.
It’s not her fault, and I’m not saying she didn’t pay attention. Lots of people realize after knowing me (and, you’d assume, seeing the back of my head) for a while that I’ve got a funny stripe of blonde.
Some would say this explains some of my more bizarre behavior. I don’t know about that. But it does make me unique.
What makes you unique? And does your unique quality always show? Or does it take a while for people to notice? And how much do you love Ray Stevens?
God must not have been feeling creative when he made me because my hair’s all the same color, and I don’t have a freckle smack-dab in the center of my nose (Pinkpiglet). ;) J/k, although I don’t have an answer for that right now anyway. But I do love Ray Stevens, thanks to my grandpa (who had a picture in his garage of him talking with him:) — I love ‘Don’t Look, Ethel;’ ‘The Mississippi Squirrel Revival;’ ‘Sittin’ Up with the Dead;’ ‘It’s Me Again, Margaret;’ and I’m sure there are more. :D In fact, I feel like I’ve mentioned this before on my blog or something (you didn’t KNOW that I love Ray Stevens??;)
Interestingly enough, the people you were trying to get away from ended up being one of your closest groups of friends (probably closer than that original group you fled to). So, God has a sense of humor I guess.
I know that doesn’t address your questions. I’m unique because I have rotting bones (and was in a major car accident) that cause me to have titanium body parts. Basically, I’m a bionic woman. This quality usually only shows itself in an airport security line.
Oh my goodness Mary! My dad used to sing that song all the time when I was little..not in a creepy way, it was a family joke. “ETHEL!!” Love it! I didn’t notice your blonde streak at BlissDom! I’m sorry! Give me another chance. :)
i read this title and SO remembered hearing this song when i was a kiddo. loved it! had that little whistle thingy noise in it, right?
God decided to be creative with my toes. so i guess in the summer when i’m wearing flip flops you might be able to notice that my second toe overlaps my third toe on both feet. my dad’s toes are the same way, and so are my niece’s.
and i’ll have to admit that i don’t know who ray stevens is. is this a bad thing? :-)
Chelley, God was feeling artistic, because your hair is bee-you-tiful!
Oh Triple, somehow I knew you’d mention that. The friends, not the bionic woman. Because, yes, I do think you are bionic. :)
Jenny – no prob, I’ll definitely give you another chance to see my blondeness!
Tam – I know, it’s good stuff, isn’t it?
Erin – you are missing out. Quick, right now, go click on my Ray Stevens link (in the post). He’s totally silly but sooo funny!
Well, the first thing that comes to mind given your story is my hair. It’s red. However, some don’t ever notice it’s red. Occasionally I’ll have someone not even believe me when I’m standing in front of them telling them it’s red. On the flip side there are those who take a half-second glance at me and see ‘red hair!’ It’s interesting. And my hair apparently changes shade on it’s own. (darker, lighter) I’ve no idea why, since it doesn’t seem to be in relation to any kind of sun exposure or what I eat or anything. I can’t really blame anyone for not noticing my red hair, though. I rarely notice other redheads unless they have fire-engine hair, or someone else points them out. I don’t know why that is. Unusual. My friend is hyper-sensitive to redheads. She loves red hair. However, the first thing she notices when seeing a redhead isn’t their hair color, strangely enough. It’s their skin color. This is all a phenomenon in my world. :)
Annie, I didn’t realize you have red hair! And I love red hair – you’re right, this is a phenomenon!