OP-ED: I’m Dead Inside and Steal My Roommate’s Shampoo for the Rush

It’s the exact same thing every day. College is a mind-numbing circle of working, sleeping, eating, drinking, smoking, hanging out with friends, going on adventures, going to parties, watching TV, and stopping frequently to wonder what it’s all worth. With so much mundanity, it’s hard to feel like the exuberant young woman I used to be. That’s why I steal my roommate’s shampoo for the rush.

It started like all great cons do, out of necessity. I was in the shower and noticed my shampoo bottle had run out — the signs had been there for weeks that it might run out soon, and it finally happened. You can’t outrun fate. As I stood there, under the intermittently cold and burning hot jets of my UCH apartment, I saw my roommate’s shampoo in their shower caddy. I knew I had to try it.

I couldn’t stop touching my hair all day. It was like their shampoo knew me better than I knew myself. I told myself I would pick up more shampoo the next time I got groceries, but the next time I passed by the bath products aisle, I did not put shampoo in my cart. I’ve been using my roommate’s shampoo for about two months now, and this one rush is all that’s keeping me alive in these slow, grueling times known as the best years of our lives.