Kissing Rats!

In my last post I said I wanted to dedicate the next few posts to silly Mike stories that make me laugh and think of him. It's not clear to me why some of these stand out more than others, kind of like Colleen's memory of the scratch but our minds work in funny ways. I have several but seeing Dave's mention of the rats on Johnson brought one to mind. My memory is fuzzy on some of the details so I apologize to those who were actual participants in this moment of Mike's history. I also forewarn, it's a little gross.

Mike mentioned the rats on Johnson several times. In his description, the house was generally not fit for living. The rats were just an added insult or maybe a measure of the house's quality. Mike recounted how he was sick off and on the whole year with a string of colds that he attributed partly to these poor living conditions. Despite this, over time they got used to them being there and accepted it as student life.... until someone (mother or grandmother?) sent an article about how rats like the salt in human saliva and will get on to the bed to lick their pillow and lips while sleeping. As I recall, the prospect of waking up some night to rats on your pillow, licking your lips not only horrified Mike but caused him not to sleep for several days.

It's a funny memory for me that pops up often, usually with some mention of rats or mice. I can picture Mike's face and hear his voice telling the story. I always enjoyed how mike could tell a story without ever sounding like he was complaining, just reflecting, and often laughing at himself.