Immature Childish *toot*

Oh. My. God.


I am literally shaking with rage right now. I'm finding difficulty even typing this at the moment.


Oh, don't worry. I am gonna tell you why.


I am soooooo gonna tell you why.


WARNING: Long post ahead. But if you want to know what pissed me off to the point of shaking with rage, you gotta read on.






BACKGROUND STORY


Last night, after having not seen her for a week, Chrissy came over to my room. I was pretty much done with assignments, just had a quiz to prepare for on Wednesday. But I was pretty laid-back at the moment. Haven't started studying for finals yet. So, sure, I told Chrissy, come on over. So she did.


It was a warm night, so I had my curtains drawn apart, the wind was coming in from the hole where a window pane once was. (Yeah, they haven't fixed it. It's been a year.) I was sitting at my desk with my laptop on, blog-hopping as usual, when I have some time. Chrissy was on my bed with her books (but they weren't at all open, mind you) and we were just talking. There was a lot to catch up on. She was telling me about her presentation just that morning, and I was telling her about the preparations for my presentation for the same course the following morning.


We were just talking and chatting, as we always do when she's in my room. We weren't talking anything particularly funny, so we weren't laughing (or in Chrissy's case, cackling) or anything.


We were just talking.


Then, there was pounding on the door.


Not a knock. POUNDING.


Silence.


I was honestly surprised. Who could that be?


I opened the door. And there stood my neighbour (from Room 404) with this utterly disgusting black look on her face.


She actually stood there and gave me that "elephant backside" face for a few seconds before she opened her mouth to yell, "I can't stand you ! Can you go and discuss somewhere else?!" *complete with a sweeping hand gesture* "I'm your neighbour, you know." (I can't see the relevance of this in this context. What does that mean???? @.@)


And she walked off. I murmured a feeble Sorry after her retreating back, and was very shaken when I turned back to face Chrissy.


"Were we too noisy again?"


*PAUSE*






BACKGROUND TO THE BACKGROUND STORY


This was a couple of weeks back (I think). Chrissy was up in my room again and we were chatting. This time, there was a lot of laughing and, in Chrissy's case, cackling. I admit, we were rather loud. Noisy. And loud. Laughed too much. And too loudly.


There was a knock on the door.


I was afraid to open the door. I mean, who knows, it could be another junior asking for money for another t-shirt or something. But I opened the door anyway.




It was my neighbour (from Room 404).


She looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, I just got back from the hospital and I'm trying to rest. Can you please keep it down?"


I apologized and closed the door. And we continued the rest of the conversation in whispers, and in softer tones.


Now, wasn't that nice, and civilized? No yelling, no petty I'll-get-back-at-you pranks? *foreshadowing*






*UNPAUSE*


At 1.30am, Chrissy finally decided to leave my room. We were saying our goodbyes and she unlocked my door.


She stared at the floor for a good 10 seconds.


"Su Li?"


"Yeah?"


"Where are my slippers?"






Yes, people. Her slippers were missing from my front door.


We looked up and down the corridor. We checked in the dustbin, in the big black plastic bag out in the common area where people hang their clothes to dry.


Nothing.


She stood outside my door, with both of us looking absolutely confused and bewildered. She even began to doubt herself--Did I come up to Lisa's room without slippers? Which is completely ridiculous ! Of course she did. Which leads us to one of two possibilities:


(a) Somebody reeeaaallllyyyy desperate stole her reallllllllyyyyy OLD Hush Puppies slippers.
(b) Somebody with a reason to hold a grudge took it.




I have to say, my first thought was option (b). Chrissy suggested it too. We both looked up above her room door beside mine, the lights turned off. Could it be?


But I tried to be fair. I said, "No la, maybe it's not her. She wouldn't do such a thing."


Or would she?






I loaned Chrissy my slipar jamban to wear to walk back to her room. A few minutes after she'd left, there was another knock on the door. What now?


It was Chrissy. "I found them."


"What? Where?"


She took me to the end of our corridor, at the top of the stairs leading to the other floors below. And there, her fuchsia pink slippers lay, at the opening of the little store room which had the electricity box, and where the cleaner sometimes stores the brooms and stuff.


They were lying there, innocently as if they had walked all the way there all by themselves.


But they didn't, did they?




Somebody had stolen them from outside my front door.


Somebody had taken them and hid them there.


Somebody, who had a grudge on us.






CURRENT STORY


I had a class early this morning at 8.00 am, and my group was presenting our Assignment 3 for Comparative Literature. I woke up with this burning urge to pound on her door and demand if she was the one who did that despicable thing last night. But I couldn't afford to be late today. I told myself, I'll talk to her later, after I get back from classes.


Presentation went well. Then I had an appeal letter to rewrite and print. When I was done, it was 1.00 pm already. I walked back to college from my faculty. While walking back, I reflected on what had happened last night, and was preparing what I'd say to her when I confronted her.


True, Chrissy and I were in the wrong. Although I didn't think we were as loud as we were the first time when she reprimanded us, I still felt she had the right to ask us to keep it down. It was after all, a shared hostel. We all lived there, and we all have the right to some peace and quiet. I admit that. I was definitely going to apologize. I was truly sorry for that. I get annoyed when I hear people laughing really loudly from the next block too, what more next door.


But what I didn't agree with was the way she had yelled at us last night. That was just wrong. I understand getting all pissed off and mad, but you should've calmed down a little before yelling your head off at us. You gotta understand, we weren't doing it on purpose to annoy you or upset you. It wasn't intentional. So the least you could've done is have the politeness and courtesy to tell us nicely.


If you had done that, we wouldn't be in this mess. But you didn't. You yelled at us. Like, I'm sorry, but you don't have the right to yell at me. We're peers, of the same age. Have some respect for other people. Talking nicely wouldn't have cost you a thing. My parents don't even yell at me like that. So neither should you.


But then again, there is this nagging feeling that tells me she is the one responsible for the Mystery of the Missing Slippers. And I just couldn't keep quiet about it, if that were true.


So the plan was: First, apologize. (I admit when I'm wrong. It's part of being MATURE.) But gently advise her not to speak so rudely to others. That's all. Settle it. And maybe things won't be so awkward when I see her in the bathrooms. >.<






THE CONFRONTATION


When I reached my room, I set my bag down, took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and knocked on the door next to mine.


She asked who it was. I said, "Your neighbour." She said she was tired and sick, and wanted to rest. But I also noticed that her keys were dangling outside her door. It wasn't a ruse to get her out. But her keys really were dangling from her keyhole. So I told her.


Shuffling feet.


"Oh, thank you. I'm really sick, and I want to sleep."


Just before she closed the door, I said, "Hold on, can I ask you something?"


"I'm really very sick right now. I have a peptic ulcer, I just came back from the hospital. I need to sleep."


But I was already too worked up to keep quiet about it any longer. I really needed to confront her, straight out. No, I had to. I had to know.


"Did you take my friend's slippers and hide them at the end of the corridor?"


"Yes, I did."


*cue gasp of disbelief and rage*




"Can I ask why you did that?"


"Cos you were too noisy !" 


(wth has that got to do with you stealing people's slippers and hiding them like a silly five-year-old????!!!)


I couldn't take it. I straight out told her that, frankly, that was pretty immature. I told her what I'd wanted to; that I was sorry about last night, that we were possibly a little too loud, but the way she had talked to us last night was rude. She said that she couldn't stand it cos she was sick and sleeping. I apologized again, said I was really sorry to hear that, but still, it doesn't give her the right to speak to us that way. I told her I've been neighbours with her for what, like 14 weeks now? And I've never given her problems for being too noisy. Only once in a while when a friend comes over. She said if we came in the daytime, it wouldn't be a problem, but it was at night, when she was sleeping. I said, again, I'm sorry (I suddenly realize that I've apologized several times by now, but she hadn't. Not even once. Not that I'm counting) but if she'd just talked to me, we could settle it. Not steal people's slippers and---


"I'M SORRY BUT I CAN'T STAND YOU ANYMORE !!!!"


----and she slammed the door in my face.




Yes. She slammed the door in my face.




I tell you. I stared in disbelief, blinking at the door for a few seconds. I just seriously could not believe she had just slammed. The door. In. My. Face.




OMG, I tell you, I almost reached boiling point. What kind of a person slams the door in the face of a someone who was only trying to have a civilized discussion????!!!


I yelled back at the closed door, "IF YOU WANT TO BE CHILDISH, THAT'S FINE !"


"I DON'T CARE. JUST GO AWAY !"


"FINE !"




So I went back to my room and slammed the door too. What, she thinks she's the only one who can slam doors?


Okay, that was pretty childish too. But wouldn't you agree that prior to that, I had tried my best to deal with this as maturely as possible?




I was sincere when I apologized. I knew I was wrong. I understood. All I wanted was to settle it like civilized young adults with maturity that should at least match our years.


Unfortunately, the person I was dealing with is an immature, childish, stupid, unreasonable and rude *toot*. (Censored. Only because I'm mature and I don't call people names.)




I have this twisted desire to grab all her slippers outside her door (there are 2 pairs) and throw them over the balcony outside the block. Oh, and maybe rap loudly on her door every time I pass by while she's sleeping. And I am seriously considering putting up A4-sized flyers along the walls of our corridor that says:






Dearest Floor Mates,


BEWARE: If we make a little bit too much noise, our "dearest" friend from ROOM 404 might steal your slippers and hide them somewhere ! Keep an eye on your slippers !!!


Just a friendly warning about a fellow "friend".


Love,
Room 403






Something tells me that living here for the next few weeks is going to be pure JOY.