I'm apparently building a reputation for myself, whether I realize it or not, and I find myself at a "crossroads," of sorts.

It's an ethics thing. I want to be responsible. I want to help people. That's all it is, and it hurts to think that the people I thought I was helping resent it.

I'm naive in many ways. I freely admit it, because I don't see myself as jaded, and there are many things in which I am far from experienced.

Someone on the floor got sick last night and lost his dinner in the lounge. The others sitting around him said he hadn't been drinking, so I believed them and figured he would be fine with time. That meant there was one thing to do: clean up the mess. No one else was going to; they all left the room immediately, and even though I probably couldn't name half of them, and I had just walked in, I figured I should do it. Unfortunately, there isn't a storage closet of cleaning supplies that I know of. That's in the RA domain. Unfortunately, the RA on my floor wasn't feeling well and had gone to sleep early. The number for the RA on call was posted on her door, so I called it. No one answered. Reluctantly, I sought out another RA, the one on third floor. I showed him the situation, and he took over from there.

This morning, my roommate informed me that that particular RA is a lot more strict concerning alcohol (or something; she was being vague). He sent the guy to the hospital, and the implication I picked up on was that there are consequences to be explored in the future. I was going to just brush it off and figure that he'd brought it on himself and, if he wanted to drink, should have done so in moderation, rather than "reupholstering" himself. Then another guy from the floor sat down beside me at "breakfast" (aka 1:30 PM meal) and basically asked me what I'd been thinking. Well, the rest of the night was totally awesome for me, and I'd not put that much emphasis on the event. I told him I'd had a great night, to which he replied, essentially, "A great night sending people to the hospital?"

I never got along that well with the people on the floor, mostly because I never stuck around long enough to get to know them. Before, people just knew me as my roommate's mysterious roommate. Now, I guess I have a reputation for being a party pooper or something. I don't really care what reputation I gain if it accurately reflects on my character, but I don't like when people resent me. What was I supposed to do, anyway? There's a properly set chain of command here, and I'm not inclined to work around it. Besides which, like I said, the stuff needed to be cleaned up. It was sinking into the carpet and the couch, and I like sitting in the lounge; I didn't want it to stay.

So... I think I'll avoid people from the other quads from around, especially the guys. I have a lot of friends elsewhere, who I usually hang out with anyway. And if I gain a reputation for being an ueber-good Samaritan, well, it has two benefits. Anyone who needs help will know where to find me. As for my floormates and their activities, they'll know to exclude me and to be more careful while they're here. Good for them. It's not like I go out and look for people to throw into trouble. It's like they said: you don't get caught if you just sleep it off, like the guy who joined ZBT did the night I saw him walk in drunk. Maybe I'm actually part of the problem, but I don't want to be a part of the solution. Maybe I actually condone underage drinking, because I don't feel like condemning the people who do it. But let me say this: enough experiences of the third-floor RA sending ya to the hospital, and ya'll teach ya'rself how to avoid it, either by being more responsible or more careful. I feel fully justified in my actions.