The Road Also Traveled

A few years ago I moved back to Sacramento and posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a roommate. I received a total of two responses. One was from a couple and at the end of the e-mail he mentioned, “And she’s cute too.” I’m not sure of the implications. The other was from a guy I will call Aaron.*

Prior to moving in together he invited me over for a barbecue at his place. After the food was cooked he scrounged up some plastic Tupperware for dinner. I inquired about the lack of dishes.

“I threw them away.”

It turned out the previous few months his brother and father were both living at the place, but neither was contributing. He thought because neither of them was working nor paying rent that they could at least do the dishes. When this didn’t happen he threw them away. I find this reasonable. I think.

It was a good start to our relationship. Aaron had a couch, television, and kitchen table, and I had dishes.

Aaron provided me an example of a lifestyle different from my own. For example the Christmas present he bought for his best friend Susie. That Christmas without discussing it first they each bought each other glass marijuana paraphernalia. This was definitely an improvement over the makeshift water bottle bong he had been using. What are best friends for?

He taught me things like how to effectively use all of your paycheck every two weeks. One day I came home during lunch and he had an extra large deluxe pizza from Round Table with a side of cheese bread. I asked him the occasion for lunch and it was because he had just received “a grip” of overtime pay. He was a big guy.


My education continued. One day after school one of my students asked me, “Mr. Burrill, do you know what it means to go dumb?” I had a few guesses. (They were wrong). I replied, “Um… I guess not. What does it mean?” The students explained, “It’s like get hyphy.” Oh. Thanks for clearing that up.


When I got home Aaron and Susie were both in the living room. So I asked them about what it means to go dumb. He immediately responded, “It’s like get hyphy.” The two proceeded to explain to me the phrases, go dumb, get stupid, get hyphy, ghost ride the whip, and most importantly breezy. I later learned you could say “beezy” for short if you thought breezy was a little too long.


During the year I also learned a lot about ankle bracelets, house arrests, breathalyzers, eligibility for a free public defendant, and reasons why DUI’s are strongly frowned upon in the state of California. I also heard firsthand someone make a phone call and say, “Got any thizzle my whizzle?” To think I may have gone my whole life and never heard that.


One of the principles I try to teach my kids is the importance of being a lifelong learner. Part of that is learning about cultures and people different from your own. I try to be someone open to new experiences and learning about others.

Good guy. Good roommate. Good year.

*Aaron is actually his given name, but due to the content of this story I thought I should represent an appearance of anonymity.