Tuesday, December 14, 2004
There was something of a scandal in the physics department on Monday morning. An email that was supposed to be sent to the undergraduate advisers' list was instead forwarded to the physics majors list. This email contained the accumulated grades of all of the seniors in the department, and had the seniors ordered according to rank. I found myself near the bottom of the list, with a small comment by my name explaining that I had started near the top of the list, and had fallen to the bottom during 2003.
Of course, I know better than anybody that 2003 wasn't the best year of my life, but nonetheless it was discouraging to see just how much I lost over the course of one year. Depression is indeed a debilitating disease, and I can't help but feel resentment for the enemies who pretended to be my friends, who threw me into that depression.
As discouraging as all that is, I suppose I should be grateful to be sitting in a heated room. Lee is crashing at my place for a few days, as he got kicked out of the fraternity house he was boarding at, after a fight with one of the frat boys. Apparently Lee was attacked over a dispute about his rent, and since he decided to defend himself with a knife, he is now facing charges of assault. Considering how well-to-do the residents of this fraternity are, it's a little inconceivable to me that they should pick a fight with one of their boarders about a late rent payment, and then kick him out into the 19 degree weather. I find it petty that the frat boys would testify against him in retaliation for his inability to pay rent, since to them that money would mean little more than a few more lines of cocaine, a few more joints of marijuana.
It seems to me that there is not a more vicious creature than a young adult of upper middle class upbringing. And America is a cold and sad place to live when you don't have enough money to pay your bills.
Of course, I know better than anybody that 2003 wasn't the best year of my life, but nonetheless it was discouraging to see just how much I lost over the course of one year. Depression is indeed a debilitating disease, and I can't help but feel resentment for the enemies who pretended to be my friends, who threw me into that depression.
As discouraging as all that is, I suppose I should be grateful to be sitting in a heated room. Lee is crashing at my place for a few days, as he got kicked out of the fraternity house he was boarding at, after a fight with one of the frat boys. Apparently Lee was attacked over a dispute about his rent, and since he decided to defend himself with a knife, he is now facing charges of assault. Considering how well-to-do the residents of this fraternity are, it's a little inconceivable to me that they should pick a fight with one of their boarders about a late rent payment, and then kick him out into the 19 degree weather. I find it petty that the frat boys would testify against him in retaliation for his inability to pay rent, since to them that money would mean little more than a few more lines of cocaine, a few more joints of marijuana.
It seems to me that there is not a more vicious creature than a young adult of upper middle class upbringing. And America is a cold and sad place to live when you don't have enough money to pay your bills.
