The social structure of ULV is no better than a sewing circle full of 80-year-old women. In the two years that I have spent here, I have seen the best and the worst of the dirt slinging and even at times been part of it. The question that repetitively comes to me is, Why? Why is everyone so damn interested in everyone else’s life but their own?
In all reality, it is not your business who is sleeping with whom nor should it be the main concern of your day. It has gotten to such an absurd point that a person cannot even have a friendship with someone of the opposite sex without the rumors flying and innocent situations turning into the most torrid love affairs of the year. Even looking or acting a certain way can seal your fate with these people.
I would have to say that my first run-in with the ridiculous network of ULV rumors was the all-time favorite for me. For those of you who have not noticed it, half of my right arm is covered in tattoos. So what, right? When I came to ULV last year, the fact that I had a free-standing devilgirl on my arm turned me into a Satan worshipper. No one in this school knew a thing about me, but hey, I love Satan, whatever.
Later that week a female friend comes to see me, and when I said hello to her I gave her a kiss. I did not cram my tongue down her throat, I did not grab her ass, I gave her a closed-mouthed kiss. I was a lesbian within two or three hours.
By the end of my first week at ULV, I was labeled a raging, Satan-worshiping, lesbian slut. Sweet. That is how people who did not know me referred to me. That is what stuck to me and probably still does, for all I know. The funny thing is that no one took any time to talk to me before making these assumptions. I was just “that devil bitch” to them.
Then the Claremont Inn made Tuesday nights a feeding frenzy with the hard body contests. Lets face it folks, if the girls there decided to show everyone their breasts and back sides and it got video taped and photographed — who cares? It is an ass, I have one, you have one and it probably will not be the last time you ever see one, either. Yet for some reason it was the biggest thing that has ever happened on campus and it was yet another reason for someone to get involved with a life that was not his so he could have something other than his cat mittens to talk about that day.
An incident two weekends ago can serve as a perfect example of how friends of the opposite sex cannot be just that, friends. I went to the SAE party and ended up hanging out with my friend, who happened to be a male, the whole time. We eventually left the party together along with another friend to go eat. I suppose the people who saw us together all night saw us leave together and decided that we were the hottest new couple on campus.
By Monday afternoon three different individuals questioned me on my relationship with this guy. Is it really anybody’s business? Are you guys worried that if I am dating this guy that I am not going to get my underwear back the next day or what?
What I am getting at is how terribly silly this place is with all of its scandal. One thing that people our age tend to forget to ask ourselves is, how is any of this going to effect our lives in 20 years? It is not, let it go. If people are not entertained by their own lives, should others have to suffer slander for it? Go get a hobby and get over it. The only reason why any of us feel it necessary to talk about other people is to compensate for the insignificance of what we are currently doing.
Erica Paal, a sophomore journalism major, is photography editor of the Campus Times. she can be reached by e-mail at paale@ulv.edu.
