some of my older friends like to call spi the best worst friend to have ... or maybe it's the worst best friend to have (?).
either way.
spi and i met first semester freshman year of college. my first memory of spi actually involves gabe, which i suppose isn't much of a surprise.
i was sitting around a table the first week in st. louis eating dinner with a dozen people, 5 of whom who would ultimately become my college posse. gabe decided to play "the animal game," assigning each person at the table an animal that he/she looked like. could there be a worse nightmare for a college freshman who was looking to fit in and feel cool? after telling aviva that she looked like droopy the dog, jamie that she looked like snoopy the dog, spi that he looked like a mouse, and ilana, an apparent gecko, to go lick her eye, i cringed.
i never got assigned an animal that night, but i did go back to my dorm room and cry. a lot.
that night was also the first time i watched spi stumble around drunk and loud though his freshman dorm hallways, ultimately throwing up after hooking up with some girl on the floor. like i said, that was the first time i saw spi stumble around drunk and loud; he's has a few repeat performances since.
going home for thanksgiving break that year, spi was sitting comfortably on the plane when realized he left his cell phone/palm pilot back at airport security. upon running up the jet-way, he tripped and broke his ankle.
spi didn't make that flight. but he did make it to the hospital.
i took spi to my sorority formal that spring. after the dancing was done, we were required to stay in the hotel where the formal was held. even though we were sharing a room with another friend couple, spi refused to sleep in the same bed as me, afraid his long distance girlfriend would get mad. i told him to shut up and get in; he called her at 2am to make sure it was okay. it was.
afterall, that was the long distance girlfriend for whom i spent hours making their one year anniversary present.
one evening in october sophomore year, i had had a little too much to drink and found myself convulsing on the floor of his room in his fraternity house. i told him to take my pulse, afraid i was having a seizure. he put his hand on my wrist and told me i was fine. the next morning, when i asked him how fast my pulse was the previous evening, he told me he didn't know how to take a pulse.
i've had short term memory problems since that night.
spi and i only took a few classes together. the competition between us was too much for either of us to handle. our grades tied exactly in both intro to psychology and abnormal psychology. i'm pretty sure i beat him in psychology of behavior. but the professor liked him more. guess it's a wash.
[update 10:20pm: actual conversation between Spi and this professor]
Spi: "Professor, are you expecting us to write more than usual on the final?"
Professor Green: "Aaron, I've known you for the last few months and have come to expect very little from you."
and despite the fact that i hate my birthday and choose to never celebrate it, spi is also the only person to coordinate a surprise birthday scavenger hunt at midnight that ended in a surprise party with all my friends. i hated him for it.
but one morning senior year, i woke up to find my car had been broken into. glass was everywhere, the inside had been ransacked and stuff had been stolen. it was a sunday at 8:30am. i was really upset. i called the first person i could think of. all i had to say was, "i need you." he didn't ask why. he didn't need to. he knew something was wrong.
spi was there in less than 4 minutes.
and that's why he's one of my best friends.
happy birthday, punk.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
with friends like these, who needs enemies?
Posted by: DBR @ 1:00 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home