The Respect Principle

My phone rang at 7:18 a.m. this morning in Riverdale. I rolled over, didn't recognize the number and let the call go to voice mail. When I called back a few hours later, I had a discussion with my neighbors upstairs about the party that had occurred at my apartment the night before. Apparently, it went on until about 7 a.m.
Reportedly, there was a great deal of banging and noise.

This was news to me.

When I came into the apartment, I was greeted by four or five strangers, one of whom was standing in the hallway in his underwear. Politely, I asked him who the fuck he was and why he was naked in my house. This apparently caught the individual off guard.
Between the broken furniture, the obsequious beer cans and the passed out sophomores in the fetal position, I had more than enough reasons to flip a shit.

For people to get along living in close quarters, like say an apartment building, it is my contention that we have to operate on the respect principle. That is, show respect to our roommates and neighbors and be treated with respect in return. I guess its a variation of the golden rule, but I don't mean to moralize.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that just because you're in college doesn't give you free reign to act an ass. Falling down drunk is not attractive. Yes, we've all had a night or two where we drank too much, but this is not an occasion to be proud of. The freshman habit of collecting liquor bottles, its just amateur. Woo, you drink! *golf clap*

Frankly, I don't have the time nor the energy to play diplomat, covering up for my roommates lack of respect and the resultant imposition on our neighbors. I just hope I can get my message through to the persons responsible for turning a civilized apartment into a flophouse fraternity. Its a message I seem to be repeating again and again: Turn on your brains.