The Kids in the Hall

We played games in the halls of our dorm. In fact, we invented games to play in the hall. We once converted the Walcott end into a bowling alley - complete with pins. That was good for an evening's worth of fun. We also played golf and Wiffle softball in the corridor. But most of the fun was had with frisbees, which only required two players. We'd set up at opposite ends of the corridor and fling the frisbee back and forth, trying to catch it as it caromed off the walls. There was only one little problem with hall frisbee...

Of course, the games most often played in the hallway were watersports. All I need to tell you about that is that Third East had 40 students and 42 fire extinguishers. There was one memorable evening in which the Third Easters got into it, and there was literally a waterfall running down the Goodale stairwell. Of course, water wasn't the only liquid or semi-liquid to decorate the carpet in the Third East hallway. Among the other items were shampoo, dish soap, various soft drinks, beer (of course), plain ice, dry ice, jellies and jams, chocolate syrup and a full jar of mustard. I think we kept our carpet a little cleaner, if for no other reason than to give the mah-jongg players a clean surface to play on.

Setting off the fire alarm was one of the trivial inconveniences of dorm life. Not only did it make an obnoxious sound until it was shut off, but on occasion, the fire department would respond to the alarm. They were not too appreciative of false alarms, and once they emptied out the entire dorm in response to a call. Later in life, I learned that this particular gag can be played in corporate offices, though typically it is pre-arranged by management without the knowledge of the employees. And the employees, having learned the game, will often stay in their cubicles working while the alarm is blaring. I mean, it beats standing in a parking lot in 15-degree weather.