Day 19

Today was crazy. I considered leaving at one point. The day started off with one of the head managers saying that they were going to spray the room and take our clothes again. Although she did say that we could keep the clothes on our back. At this point I was frustrated with having to take all of my stuff out of the room, but I was ok because I didn't have to wear the robes again. So I went and had breakfast which was pretty good because we actually had syrup with our french toast this time. Afterwards I started seeing some staff going around and telling everyone to put all of their clothes in bags, including the clothes they were wearing. Michael and Jemail confront the staff and ask them about the descrepency. Unfortunatly Michael and Jemail had been frustrating some of the staff throughout the study, especially Michael who had upset quite a few of the staff. Therefor this apparent defiance from the perspective of the staff pushed them to reply harshly to Michael and Jemail, who both felt very dissrespected. This was the final straw for Michael and Jemail who said they were leaving immediatly.

I was really hesitant about getting back in the robes but ultimatly my refusal to get in the robe was a bluff. I was confident that the manager Karen's word was final and she said we didn't have to. Before Karen came back I just cleared out my room and avoided the staff by taking a shower. When I got out she still wasn't back so I just sat in a chair and played on my phone. It was obvious to others that this would be the time for me to change into the robes, so they came up to me and asked if I was leaving. I said it depends on if I have to wear the robe or not. As I was hoping my refusal along with my entire rooms, excluding those already leaving, encouraged others to do so as well. This resistance formed not by a meeting but through word of mouth and by example. By the time Karen came back it was clear she had only one option and that was to let us keep the clothes we were wearing. I don't know how many other people were bluffing but ultimatly it doesn't matter.

As this was going on Michael and Jemail were in the process of leaving. The top people were also talking to them and trying to keep them here. Part of what encouraged Jemail to leave was that his wife was arriving for a visit just as this was going down and so his ride was already here. Little did Jemail know that his wife was going to be the one who convinces him to stay. I guess she told him that he's staying and that she wouldn't be giving him a ride home. In the end Jemail is still here, but I can not say the same for Michael who is already in KC eating a big dinner and its currently 9:30pm. This I know from Jemail who was texted by Michael a moment ago. Besides Michael not having someone like Jemail's wife keeping him here he was talked down to much worse than Jemail. In fact at one point one of the staff charged at Michael while yelling, "well you can just pack your stuff and get the f%$k out of here." She was actually restrained by her fellow coworkers. I know she said that since I heard it, but I didn't see what she was doing. This very unprofessional outburst was in response to some awful words about the quality of this place said by Michael to his friend on the phone.

I want to point out that i don't agree with Michael. In fact I have been considering for a while writing a post here on the topic of how clean this place is. They have people come and clean the entire place everyday. On top of that I personally have not seen one insect the entire time I have been here. Considering how many people are here and how much food is eaten here, I find the lack of a single cockroach or ant to be very impressive.

Anyway back to today. After all of this chaos and confusion. They called a meeting to address what was going to happen. Which was that everyone was going to have to spend the day on their cot until the rooms air out from the gas. By the way they used a profesional exterminator and not a do it yourself bug bomb like before, which is what they should have done from the beginning.  So I set up my XBOX and TV on a chair at the foot of my cot. I spent the day playing Reach and surfing the web. Thankfully though I am currently back in my room and enjoying some Sufjan. He's helped keep me sane these past few weeks when I don't want to hear Jemail's endless arguments with his wife. Also if you haven't been keeping track I only have one more week from today. So until that glorious day I'll keep posting.