Bruce and the disco

 I for my 5th semester at Purdue I didn't want to live in the dorm anymore.  I left home just after Christmas to get back early and find an off campus apartment.  I went to the student union to look a a bulletin board where people posted apartment listings and other things...This was before the internet :)  The single places near campus were expensive but I didn't have a car to find a place further away.  There was another guy standing there reading the apartment listings as well.  He introduced himself as Bruce.  After a two minute discussion we decided to look for a place together. 

Bruce had a car.

Sort of....The car was a junker.  I found out later that he bought the car for 24 dollars......I will just say that even way back in 1981 you didn't get much of a car for 24 dollars.  Side note....Later on he wrecked the car(that's a different story) and bought a replacement car for a case of beer and 10 bucks.  It was even worse. The driver's seat was a cinder block.

Back to the story 

We called on one house. It was a about 1.7 miles to campus.  A little too far, but it was within my price range.... We signed the contract that day.  Oh yeah....It was unfurnished.... Bruce said he had some furniture in Chicago. He would go get it the next day. 

First order of business was going to the grocery store for food.  When we got to the store parking lot it was about 2pm.  Bruce spotted a bar on the edge of the parking lot.  He suggested grabbing a beer....Sure...why not...As it happened back in 1981, this was a disco bar, complete with dance floor and disco ball. There were only a few people. We sat down at the bar to have a conversation and find out a little about each other. It turns out he had been selling luggage on the streets in Chicago....He was a real talker.  Fairly soon Bruce was having a conversation with the other people seated at the bar including the bartender.   We had been there about an hour when the first pitcher of beer came to us free...I didn't have a lot of extra money to spend on beer soooo free beer was extra good.  The time went on. Bruce was still talking with the bartender and occasionally a new pitcher would come.  

By 8pm people started pouring in....It was Thursday night. Ladies night at the disco.  Before long the bar was absolutely packed.  We were drinking and dancing and dancing and drinking and the night went on...A pitcher would show up regularly and the night went on.....until 2am when the bar was closing.   OMG ...We had been there 12 hours.  We were both totally loaded.

Bruce and I got into our first argument.  He wouldn't leave the bar....I repeatedly mentioned that the bar was closing....He wasn't leaving...after arguing and arguing I finally said I was leaving.  I started walking.  It was about a mile to the house. 

Walking home

It was cold out. Temperatures were below just about freezing.  I wasn't sure exactly where the house was since I had only been there once but I knew the general direction.  After a little while of  wandering/stumbling I found it. I made it just inside the door and I fell asleep on the floor(remember...no furniture)....I woke up about 10 am...I felt really crappy and we didn't even have any food since we never made it to the grocery store.  I looked around...No Bruce.....This was in the stone ages (before cell phones).....I couldn't just call him.  So I waited...About 1pm Bruce comes in.  He's pissed....Our second argument was why did I leave him at the bar. 

It turns out that the bartender had made Bruce leave around 2.30am. Bruce realize that he was in no shape to drive(good decision).  He started walking.....and he got lost. He didn't remember much about the walk home except he slept in someone's car for a little bit(a good reason to always lock your car)...on someone's front porch sofa with a blanket and in a snowbank where he had fallen down and couldn't get up.  I don't know how he didn't end up with frost bite...

That was my first 24 hours with Bruce.

Crazy weekend drinking nights became the norm.  I lived with him for 3 semesters.  Bruce knew where all the parties were. We didn't spend a lot of time together but we knew some of the same party crowd.  Friday and Saturday nights usually lasted until close to sunrise. (sometimes later)

 I don't know if Bruce started out as an alcoholic but by the end he was definitely one.  After the first couple of days I never rode with him.  I did a lot of walking.  By the end of the third semester the police knew where he lived and they visited occasionally.  He ended up in jail a couple of  times. He left school. I never heard from him again.