Life behind bars: What it’s like to live behind the wildest watering holes in Columbus
You get used to the noise and it makes for excellent people watching
Wubwubwub wubwubwubwub wubwub wubwubwub. For anyone who doesn’t know, this is the start of the Pursuit of Happiness Steve Aoki Remix. For those of us who live right behind everyone’s favorite campus bars, it’s basically a meme at this point. We hear this song every. single. day., blasting soul-crushing bass you can feel in the pit of your stomach from bars like Bulls and Midway. It feels like getting Rick Rolled every night at 2AM.
Having said that, housing close to the bars is every student’s dream. As a now seasoned vet of living behind bars, I’ll give you the low down on the good and the bad.
The bad
The noise
This can be a pain in the ass on weeknights when you have to be a responsible adult (or pretend to be one). Not only is the music always bangin’ on High Street, but you also get: the traffic, people drunk screaming and fighting in the alleys, and other general bar racket. Sometimes sleeping can be a bit rough but eventually it all fades to the background.
Every day is an adventure
When you live in the heart of the action on campus, weird stuff seems to happen all the time. I’ve walked home multiple times to find strangers passed out in my apartment stairwell and even the laundry room on my floor. You have to be on your toes when you live behind the bars. Walking in on a hammered rando in your stairwell with his hands down his pants is about enough to give you a heart attack. You’re going to run into all kinds of characters during your everyday life when you live in the thick of it. Just keep your head on a swivel and enjoy the show.
If you like the things you have, screw them to the floor
I have already had two bikes stolen from my apartment this year alone. One was outside on my fire escape and the other was actually inside the building in the hallway. Being a naïve, former small town resident, I wasn’t used to having to lock everything up even when only being gone for a matter of minutes. Things have a way of disappearing fast if you don’t have them locked up, or have your eye on them.
Every freshman’s favorite place to rage
The good
The noise
I know this seems a bit contradictory but I have really come to romanticize the constant commotion after months of living in Bull’s backyard. The early mornings and late nights with people hustling about just give off a vibe of life and connection with the people around you. It’s hard to feel lonely when you have 50,000 of your closest friends always living life around you. It’s actually tough for me to go home and sleep in total silence now that I’ve spent so much time here in Columbus. If you like feeling like a part of the action, life behind the bars might be for you.
Every day is an adventure
Again, I know I’m contradicting myself here, but hey, life is complex and nuanced. I have become buddies with several members of the homeless community who hang out on high street. I say hi as I pass them to class every day and we seem to have a pretty good relationship. If you are shy, living behind bars will force you out of your shell. I find myself talking to strangers much more than I used to simply because there are so many of us packed into such a small space.
Everything you need is mere steps away
The proximity to campus, the bar scene, the freeway, it’s all perfect when you live here. I can be on 71 headed home in five minutes, and I can walk to my classes in the same amount of time. It is amazing to be able to roll out of bed at 7:45 and make it to your 8 am class on time. Save yourself the hike and just live in the heart of the action!
The people watching
One of the best parts of living behind bars is watching people stumble home after a long night out. Everyone who lives here has witnessed the drunken boyfriend/girlfriend duo who decide to have a dramatic, relationship defining confrontation on their walk home. It usually entails a drunk girl and her drunker boyfriend engaging in an argument. The boyfriend starts walking ahead while his girlfriend yells at him, and it almost always ends in some kind of drunken, sappy, makeup make-out sesh for all to see. The zombie stumbler is another classic. Not to be outdone, however, by the drunken hype beast, throwing bottles and yelling whatever thoughts fight through the alcohol and make the journey from brain to mouth. Quite possibly the best part of living here is the endless 3 am entertainment while we sit out on our fire escape with our feet up.
The memories
At the end of the day, you will make a lot of memories (hopefully some which you will actually remember) that you can take with you forever. Living behind bars is exciting and even though there are some drawbacks, we are young! We don’t need anything fancy, let’s just have a good time. I say embrace the time you have, kick back, and enjoy life behind bars.