Image by Nikki Black
By Mariana Garces
A new museum of sorts has developed on the Ithaca College campus, and no, it’s not the Handwerker Gallery.
It was started recently out of sophomore Sid Miller’s lower quad dorm. It exists in a hallway just like any other, behind a door where Sid’s name is scrawled craftily onto a foam palm tree made by a sad RA. You wouldn’t be able to distinguish Sid’s dorm from any other if it weren’t for the collection of girl’s underwear, shoes and clothing he has amassed in a corner of his room.
“I don’t really collect anything,” Sid said. “I guess I just hook up with lazy girls who never return for their stuff.”
And what a trend these lazy girls have caused. We’ve all been a part of or witnessed this occurrence: Two strangers meet at a party, hook up and one leaves in the morning, forgetting one or various belongings. Sometimes it’s done on purpose (“Oh! I’ll drop by later to pick up my nondescript piece of jewelry I left last night!”). However, when it comes to Sid, it’s always done in a rushed walk of shame, like that barefoot banana you saw walking home the morning after Halloween.
In Sid’s case, frequent casualties of such nights have often included keys, cell phones, high heels, earrings and socks. Sometimes, they also include more valuable things like dignity and virginity. In fact, a recent Quinnipiac survey found that nine out of ten college-age girls in such situations said their regret from the previous night’s behavior trumps their desire for forgotten possessions.
“Sid’s a complete scumbag,” random drunken hook-up Sarah Goldstein said. “I left some nice earrings at his place last month, but I’d rather leave them then stop by and make him think I want to sleep with him again.”
His collection happens to currently feature such gems as a Polaroid camera, a stick-on mustache, striped elf socks, a La Vincita apron, a German barmaid’s costume and a Jager-stained “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” shirt. Indeed, along with serving as a museum, Sid’s side of the room doubles as a forgotten temple of regret and shame. While Sid did not intentionally curate these items, he said he would like to feature them on display for the next month. The exhibit is free and open to the public, including the girls who left their stuff at Sid’s place.
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Mariana Garces is a freshman journalism major who left her computer at Sid’s. E-mail her at [email protected].