Zaireeka Observation

We get started, and the first thing I hear is "Track One" from all around the room, followed by "Disk one," "disk two," "disk three," "disk four" from the various CD players.

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The music is starting. I hear a base, drum set, what sounds like whirligigs, and some random, indescribable noises!
This is a bit strange, I think as the music starts. It's really weird sitting there and hearing fragments of music coming from around the room, corroborating, making it sound like one CD on a super high surround sound!
I hear a bunch of "Ah's" emancipating from Gary's stereo, and Sylvia's is the first to have works spewing from the speakers.
Number two has stomping, or thunder. Now, a Phantom of the Opera quality kind of music is radiating from each of the music systems. Well, for a few seconds anyway. There are bunches a guitars and "ah's." As I look around, I notice some people are making the this-is-strange type of face. I can't blame them, however; I'm thinking the same thing!
I can now hear and understand some words: "You're invisible now," then it reverts back to the mumbling that I've been hearing throughout.
Ooookaaaay, I'm thinking, The CD's are now screaming. No doubt in agony to this music!
I notice that many people are laying or sitting Indian-I mean "Native American"-style. I am the only one in a desk though. I can't write on the floor; I need a desk.
My stereo is now playing a bass, now a flute, now a trumpet. More people are starting to lie down. And I really don't want to write this as I glance at my book. I'm tempted to pick it up and start reading. This is the perfect music to read to!
Track three is sounding odd, more than likely because two players are out of sync! Sylvia's is a bit behind, and Gary's is a bit ahead. His is playing one of the ugliest thing's I've ever heard! It sounds like one of those banshees you would find on TV. I look up, a bunch of my classmates are looking up at others, and some are scribbling away, furiously, in their books.
Professor Ware, the oddball that he is, is just walking around the room, sitting at various locations and screwing with the volumes of the players.
I mouth to Katelyn, "This is strange." I don't know if she understood or not, but she nods just the same.
You can really tell that two players are now out of sync by the atrocious noise diffusing throughout the room. It's horrible!! I am glad that Kara and I are synced, at least!
OOOH. Here comes Professor Ware to adjust the volume of the speakers... again! I am about to suggest that we just blare them all and see what happens and feel the full effect, but I hold my tongue. Instead, I grab the remote for my stereo and press a button to see how much time is left. Twenty-two minutes!

Gary’s is now way ahead, Kara and I are still synced, and Sylvia is two or three seconds behind. More people are starting to lie down.

I decided to look around and count. Six people are lying down (one is asleep, I think). No, eight are lying, and more are falling asleep, or just thinking with their eyes closed. I really don’t know how people can sleep with this atrocious racket. It’s unbelievable! I hazard a glance at the overhead screen to see the title of this newest song, track 5. “The Train Ran Over The Camel, But Is Derailed By The Gnat.” What an odd name!

Kara and I are still synced. Gary is about 10 seconds ahead, and Sylvia is two or three behind.

There is now one person I’m positive is asleep, maybe two. Professor Ware is still walking around the room. 10:28 left. Yay, we are almost finished with the racket!!

I wonder what we are going to do next. No doubt some horrid essay about all of this!

Eight people are lying down.

It’s starting to sound like wood shop in here! “March of the Rotten Vegetables.” Oddest titles I’ve ever heard. Oddly enough, I can almost hear the vegetables on the march! Another person sat up, and I still think that the one is sleeping.

YES! Last song! 4:12 left! It’s about dogs and the toys they didn’t ruin. Kara’s is the only one playing music, and the others are narrating words. Nope, Sylvia’s is the only doing words now. The others’ are doing music.

I have no clue what to think anymore! The three back to playing words (mine, Gary, Sylvia) are so off sync, one can’t make heads or tails of what’s going on! I glance at the timer, 45 seconds. Class is almost out, too! About five minutes left.

It sounds like Gary’s just broke, until mine and Sylvia’s join in. Then you can tell it’s dogs barking and fighting. SILENCE. Thank Goodness!

Observation

I have about eighteen hours to make an observation, turn it into an essay, and hand into my classmates to test the mercy of their pens is what I think as I look at my watch and note that the time is 6:10 pm on the 25^th of February. I am sitting in the main room of Theta Chi, preparing for the meeting. I have just learned that instead of our regular meeting, we will be having a guest speaker. In fact, he was one of the first pledges of Theta Chi fraternity here at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Yes, this is the day before the rough draft is due, but I decided I liked this one much better than my trip to the Westroads Mall, which I know that at least one other person did. I tend to rant too much when I have to talk about a public place and I see things I don’t like.

I am at the fraternity, having just left work from the library. Everybody had just finished their meals, and was waiting to be excused from the table to take their seats at the meeting. I guess I made it just in time! I am actually mastering this time management thingy! I work until 6:00 pm on Mondays. Theta Chi has the weekly dinner at 5:45, lasting fifteen to twenty minutes. The last couple of weeks when I work, I manage to make it to the meeting just before it starts up! I am actually excited about that for a few seconds until the meeting starts up.

We go through the usual routine: role call, creed, people talk. Today’s meeting wasn’t really all that special or funny due to the fact that we have a guest speaker. His name is Dick Meyer, and he was one of the first pledges of Theta Chi. I am extremely busy taking notes on what he says, because I am also writing an article that will be handed into a couple of newspapers by the fraternity. I am actually super excited about that!

It is actually a bit hard to pay attention since the lights are off, Meyer is being redundant (telling us for the third or fourth time that the average age of the crew was 72), and I am in an extremely comfortable couch! Reminds me of class sometimes. I get really relaxed, the lights are off, and we are watching an extremely boring movie that teachers have shown every year, to every biology class since the 70’s or 80’s. I want to doze off, but I know I can’t since I need to pay attention.

That only makes things harder, of course. I am trying to write two different things in the dark. First I am writing what I’m doing, and I am also taking notes on what Mr. Meyer says. It’s a very hard thing to do, writing in the dark on two different objects, about two different things. My notes are all over the page. I didn’t do my observation in the composition notebook because I have a slight OCD thing. I can’t stand random writing. So, I wrote on another piece of paper, and will read off it, and put it into my notebook if Professor Ware would like me to.

Everybody is dressed up extremely well; I was able to take note of this before the lights went out. I know that the reason behind it is Mr. Meyer. I find it extremely strange though, that most of the people in the fraternity seem to color coordinate every time we have to dress up formally. Last week, most of us were wearing red and white. Today it is mainly black and red or white. I don’t think that the people who live in the house plan it, and I know that those of us who live out don’t. It is actually a lot of fun to be wearing the exact same suit as two or three other people, and none of you planned it. Especially when those two or three are your closest friends in the fraternity! Sometimes I think that there is more to this “brotherhood” thing than just a bond to the house. I think that we are truly connected to each other!

I am sitting next to Andrew Riquier, whom I think is falling asleep. I ponder waking him up, but before I do anything he pulls himself out of it. Darn! I could have had fun waking him up. I am a very evil person when it comes to that. Need to focus on Mr. Meyer!!

He just finished telling us about what LST stands for (Land Ship, Tank by the way), for the third time. I think it was third... I lost count when I got distracted thinking about waking Andrew up, doing the observation, and plotting an article. You really should not be sitting somewhere comfortable when doing this, I’m starting to learn!

Mr. Meyer is wearing his tan US Navy land uniform, telling us about preparing the ship they are remodeling preparing to sail to America. He is going off on a tangent about who is who, so I am taking the time to actually observe!

The couch is one of those types like most L-shaped couches: rough and comfy! The grey floor looks like it needs shampooed. And I can tell this in the dark! It is a bit warm in the room since there are about twenty-five fraternity brothers packed into the room. Mr. Meyer has seven or eight awards. I can’t tell for sure, because some are bigger than others. I do know that there were two rows, three on the top, and I think four or five on the bottom. He is missing the middle two fingers of his left hand up to the first knuckle on the digits, and has a ring on the ring finger. It’s not a wedding ring, though, so I am going to try and find out what it is. I do, and it’s a Mason ring! Mr. Meyer is a Mason! That is so cool! I knew I had seen him before!

I had gone to a funeral as a support beam for one of my friends. It was for her figurative grandfather, who also happened to be a Mason. I swear this world keeps shrinking! Pretty soon it will be just like the Small World ride at Disneyland. As long as we don’t suddenly break into the harmonious “It’s A Small World” song I can survive!

Mr. Meyer is back on track! He is telling us about his life before he joined Theta Chi. Meyer is saying how he went straight into the navy after high school, served his two years, and decided to give college a chance, where he majored in Party-ology, and minored in Women-ology. That is until he joined Delta Omega Phi, which later became Theta Chi. And, we are done.

It is now time for personal, or one-on-one, questions. I have quite a few for him, but now I can’t remember them! I shook is hand and thanked him for coming. Mr. Meyer has some rough hands, but I don’t know what else you would expect from an eighty-one year old. I stuck around for a bit and waited for everybody else to finish up with their questions and whatnot. While I was waiting, Scott Lloyd (the guy who asked me to do the article) came up to me and thanked me for doing this for him. I told him it was really no problem, but I do need a bio on Mr. Meyer to add in to the article. Scott told me he’d get it to me.

When everybody finished talking to Mr. Meyer, I go up to and introduce myself. At first, he thought I was the secretary of the fraternity. I clarified that right away, and he was ready to chat up a storm about his time in Crete. I find it personally fascinating, and can’t wait to talk to him again when I have more time, and no essay to type up for what I did just a few minutes ago.