The Po' House

That is a phrase from my beloved Mammy in "Gone with the Wind." (She's wasn't my Mammy, of course.) Lately, I have been remembering my poorest days as a Freshman at BYU, and I just thought I'd share a bit of it with you. Now, I'm not telling you this to get pity or sympathy. I'm just hoping you'll laugh with me. . . and not cry. It jist ain't fittin'.

Every morning, I woke up at 4:45, got ready and was out the door by 5:40ish to get to my job by 6:00 am. I walked down 9th East in the pre-dawn darkness, humming Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" (even though it hadn't quite broken yet) because that's what always popped into my head because it has the word "morning" in it. I walked in the dark, trying not to get hit by cars who I swear were actually trying to hit me sometimes. I answered phone calls and watched the clock so I could get out of there in time to walk up to campus for my Child Development class, taught by Dr. Scoresby, that started at 11:00, which was held in room 21o of the SWKT. Why do I remember that? I don't know. I went to classes all day and did homework in between, then hurried "home" to make it in time for dinner before the Morris Center closed.

When my telemarketing job came to an early, though not unanticipated end, I began work as a custodian, and then a cashier, and then a dish washer, ice cream scooper (again!), cookie maker, and chef at the Cougar Cove, that's right, THE Cougar Cove. (And, if you were a missionary at the MTC Fall or Winter semester of 1999 and 2000, you likely ate one of my world famous cookies. You're welcome.)

In other words, I was not a lazy bum! I got good grades (better than high school, somehow) and worked my bum bum off. I would start work as early as 5:00 am one day and end as late as 1:00 am another.

So, you'd think I'd be rollin' in the dough right? Well, as Dwight Schrute would say, "False."

I had approximately one outfit my freshman year. Ya wanna know how I know? Because I'm wearing it in every. single. picture. It's a pair of jeans and a blue sweater with white and burgundy stripes on it. But, I didn't have any quarters to wash my outfit in the basement, (do you think I'm made of money?!) so I would wash it every night in the community bathroom sink of "S" Hall, second floor- until the main custodian lady got mad at me and said I had to use another sink. Isn't it my choice if I want other people's toothpaste on my clothes? Sheesh! After washing my outfit that I got from Shopko for around $2o, I would take it to my room, hang it up on the strings connecting the blinds (yes, they are strong enough to hold up soaking wet clothes), turn on the heater, and hit the hay.

Every morning I was greeted by my jeans and blue sweater and socks hanging on my blinds, all crisp (very crisp) and clean and dry. Every morning.

And don't get me wrong, my parents helped me out so much, but not so much that I expected my monthly allowance of $300, and I'm grateful. Fo' real!

So, what was my problem, you ask? Well, I hadn't figured out money yet. It's my own fault, I totally know that, and I knew it then too. I guess I just had to figure it out the hard way. And I wish I could say I figured it out in time to live outside the dorms, buuuut. . . What? You didn't ration your box of Junior Mints to last you through breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Well, you missed out!

Oh well. We can laugh about it now, right?

Right?