In the fall of '87, my freshman year at South Alabama, there was a bevy of international students assigned to my dorm. The first time away from home and their home country for most of them, fitting in was a high priority. They were looking for guides and mentors to help them navigate the assimilation process in both the American collegiate setting as well as American culture in general. Unfortunately for them, what they got were pranksters and the pothead troubadours of Alpha South dorm who themselves were away from home for the first time. Regardless, for the most part, we managed to keep their missteps just this side of jail-able offenses.
At one party, Kengo, from Japan, couldn't quite grasp that just because a screwdriver contained orange juice, it didn't nullify the effects of the vodka. Kengo's only prior experience with alcohol was just before he left Japan. His dad took him out on the town and introduced him to Saki. Now, after tossing back an unknown number of screwdrivers, this normally sedate guy became very loud and animated, extolling what in his highly marinated mind was Japan's greatest contribution to world culture.
"Godzilla! Godzilla #1! Japan #1!"
"Hey, Kengo, get off the counter, man. You're gonna hurt yourself."
"GODDDZIIILLLLLAAA #1!!!"
More productively, one guy from Lebanon quickly discovered rock and roll along with his roommate's record collection and stereo system. He gravitated towards Def Lepard's Hysteria album, just released that September, and utterly fixated on track 1: "Pour Some Sugar On Me." Day and night the the entire floor could hear this album looped over and over cranked to 11. Suddenly it would get quiet as Danny, his roommate, had had enough and killed power to the system. A few seconds later, in a heavy Lebanese accent, we'd hear in protest, "Dammit, Danny! I want to hear 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'!" This little vignette played out over and over all bloody year. "Dammit, Danny!" became the unofficial greeting on the floor and was duly recorded in the Alpha South newsletter as one of the top dorm quotes of the year.
I transferred to Auburn University the next fall, and while I missed a lot of the connections I'd made the year before, I did not miss Danny's roommate's glucose fetish. I liked Def Leppard well enough, but come on, dude. Seriously? Pick another album from time to time.
No matter. I was now 4 hours away from Mobile in Auburn - a fresh college, a fresh town, and a fresh start - until the Auburn Tigers went 10-2 in the regular season. Their reward for this grand accomplishment? A trip to the Sugar Bowl. Guess what had become the unofficial theme song for the event?
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