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| Jason Christman / Scroll |
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Hoping to impress the mothers during Mothers’ Weekend, the men’s dorms are transforming from a ‘prison’ to a civilized home.
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[Cue scary music]…You are about to enter a world different than the one we normally know. It is a place where things are not as they appear — where the men’s dorms are spotless, the halls emit pleasant odors like anything but their usual selves, and no evidence of mischief is in sight.
This isn’t some rip-off of the Twilight Zone. It’s actually just Mothers’ Weekend. Rather than a marathon of often-cheesy black and white spectacles of the imagination, guys get treated to at least three whole days of smothering and inspection (oh, and free groceries).
The arguably jail-like dormitories that so many of BYU-Idaho’s men call home, put on an extra special show. Off-campus living quarters have the benefit of slacking off just a tad on this oh-so-special occasion. For the dorm dudes, it’s more akin to time spent vying for parole. They get to show their moms just how well behaved and civilized they have become since being away from home. And a little sucking up never hurt anybody.
“We usually have refreshments … and try to be [the mothers’] friends,” Marianne Wilde, an alumna from Idaho Falls and a manager of Rigby Halls, said.
It all starts with an open house made to welcome the arrival of moms and matrons. Similar to parole applications, “open houses are rare,” (i.e. basically annual) Brian Anderson, a junior from Wilmington, Ohio, and dorm RA, said. In addition to the open houses, the dorms feature “special clean checks,” Anderson said.
One such dorm resident, Mike Tripp, a freshman from Clarksville, Tenn., said he cleans his room thoroughly.
“I do what my mom made me do back home.”
This isn’t always a laborious chore though. Some do it out of obligation, others out of respect. “It’s for them … it’s special,” Matt Harris, a freshman from Taber, Alberta, said. “You get to pamper them.”
The whole process involves more than cloaking dirt with fragrant spray. Bed making, laundry, vacuuming, etc. is all enforced and carried out prior to the moms’ appearance. Rumor has it they even make the rebellious ones lick the dust from the baseboards … (Okay so that one’s a lie). But in the end, all the scrubbing and washing pays off, and the sparkling, lemony-fresh dorms are ready to host.
Also worth mentioning are those who have no mothers coming to visit. Apparently, loving mothers aren’t the only ones who get treated to the show.
A sly little loophole lets all women take a peek into the dorms. A little reminder to all guys to whom this situation applies: you can still make your place spotless. For while right now a girl may not care about the inside of your living spaces, just remember that girls grow up into mothers … so consider it practice.
