Another One Bites the Dust

My roommate is pretty much awesome. We have a language all our own made of words and phrases coined from every medium imaginable. Whether it is movie quotes, music lyrics, code names for certain individuals, or common catch phrases with a special twist our shared experiences grant us a plethora of material ready to be folded like a paper airplane and sent carrying a coded message. Come with me to dinner a few nights back. Set in your mind a cafeteria during peak traffic. Upperclassmen yell across tables to get each other's attention. Freshman walk wide-eyed desperately trying to spot a familiar face and an empty seat. My table is packed with reunited dorm sisters sharing about summer jobs and/or planning room designs to accompany a newly purchased refrigerator. Naomi returns with her cup of tea and I'm eager to share with her a discovery I've made in her absence. A certain childhood friend of mine is one table away sharing a meal with my ministry coach from last year. From the beginning of last semester Naomi and I had picked them out as a 'future couple'. They are simple too perfect for each other in all their ridiculous quirks not to date each other. Now I could have attempted to whisper below the noise and say, “Look over there, so-and-so are having dinner together.” But in an environment of such chaos a whisper is on-par with normal volume so by the time I repeat it loud enough for Naomi to hear, five other people will be privy to my comment. Instead I revert to 'roommatese' and break out singing, “Dum, Dum, Dum, Another one bites the dust.” To any other individual, this reference to Queen brings back images of 80's power ballads and the outlandish rock bands who sing them, but to my roommate it conveys just the meaning that I intended, no more no less. She laughs as we join together for the chorus, “And another one gone, and another one gone. Another one bites the dust!”