I came into this COVID-19 crisis like everyone else, not knowing what to expect. On Wednesday, March 11th I had plans to fly to Evansville, Indiana to join the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the Southern Professional Hockey League and finally have the opportunity to live out my dream of playing professional hockey. That did not go according to plan. Instead, this is what happened:
Thursday, March 12th: The day the sports world came to a gigantic halt. I had to cancel my flight to Evansville and figure out what the fuck I was going to do. Were my dreams of playing pro hockey dead? Who knows, the only thing that I did know was I wanted to get out of Erie, Pennsylvania in any way that I could.
Friday, March 13th: My girlfriend is a senior at the University of Florida and I had never gotten the chance to visit her at school. With classes going online I figured this would be the best opportunity. I could never have guessed that this would turn into a 50-day extravaganza.
Sunday, May 3rd: I have watched Love Island, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and, worst of all, I even made a Tik Tok. I have spent 50 days quarantining in Gainesville, Florida with my girlfriend and her 7 friends. When this all started, they were basically acquaintances, but now they feel like little sisters. At times, even my girlfriend felt like a sister. Don’t get that twisted, you guys know what I’m trying to say. We were arguing like siblings as opposed to arguing as a normal couple would.
When I first got here all my friends were excited for me, “Laz you’re living the dream, I would kill to live with eight girls,” they would say. I can tell you first hand that this was nothing close to a dream, but let me make one thing clear. I had an absolute blast with these girls, but boy oh boy is it different than living with my guy friends.
I have learned a crazy amount of things over the last 50 days. Guys and girls think so differently it’s scary. At the same time, we are also similar in many ways.
Sitting on a couch with eight girls is night and day from sitting on a couch with eight guys. You wouldn’t believe some of the conversations that I listened to. It’s nearly impossible to watch a movie or show in silence with that many girls. I had been waiting weeks to watch The Last Dance and I couldn’t hear a fucking word of it from the TV. Thank G-d for subtitles.
The most important thing that I did learn about girls in this experience is that they can turn any situation into a fun time. I wish I got as excited about anything as a girl does to put on makeup and take a selfie while holding a glass of wine. Even though some of their actions may be “for the Snapchat” they definitely have a lot of fun doing whatever activity that includes makeup and wine. They can turn a simple game of Jenga into a series of taking tequila shots. That idea would never occur to me and my guy friends and is very useful when leaving the house isn’t an option.
Don’t even get me started on birthday celebrations. If someone covered my bed and my room with balloons I would be so pissed off. Why would I want to clean up that mess? But not for them. They love the decorations and the celebrations and you know what, I’m all for it. We celebrated three birthday’s in the 50-day span, including my own, and that was probably the most fun birthday party that I have had since I turned eighteen.
I’m sure living with me for 50 days wasn’t the most amazing experience for them. By the third week, I had farted in front of all of them and all I did was sit on the couch and watch The Office or Dave with the volume all the way up. At the same time, they sat at the table trying to focus on their school work or play a peaceful game of Rummikub.
I consider myself lucky to spend this quality time with them. We pissed each other off now and then, but I wouldn’t change a minute of it. I had so much fun and learned a lot. If I am ever single again, I know exactly how to spark up a conversation with a girl at a bar, “I think you would look so good in these Revolve leggings.” That is, of course, if bars ever open again.
Thank you to my eight new sisters for taking me in and making my quarantine experience a ton of fun. To the boyfriends who came over for a playdate every once in a while, just so I could have some guy time, you are the ones that kept me going. I feel like I am graduating from the University of Florida as opposed to Mercyhurst University. I will miss running the stairs of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, you may know it as “The Swamp,” and I am going to miss my eight sisters. I will remember these 50 days for the rest of my life. I cannot wait until this pandemic ends so we can pour a glass of wine, throw on some makeup, and take selfies.