Berkeley’s Irish South Side Invasion of 2013
by Steed Dropout
Sept. 9, 2013
Berkeley, Ca
DRUNK AND RIDICULOUS IN BERKELEY
“We have a reputation for being, like completely drunk and ridiculous,” an Irish summer student told Daily Cal recently.
Fraternities won’t rent to them, admitted an Irish summer student, but some new partners in a South Side building’s ownership decided the revenue from otherwise vacant units was worth any risks. They had been warned by the building manager.
According to the manager, one such unit has been “trashed” beyond the security deposit’s ability to recover.
There have been a string of complaints (even from across the street) to Berkeley Police.
Building security has been breached.
One hapless resident was willing to put up with late night/early morning noise, which echoed through its courtyard and the drunken party or two, but that was before the piss fall.
EYE-BALL TO A PISS-FALL — FIRST PERSON
At 12:15 a.m. on my birthday, I stepped out my door to see where the noise was. That’s when I went all eyeball to piss fall.
Someone was pissing from the fourth floor — no more than fifteen feet from me — onto the first floor. There I was, eyeball to piss fall.
What to say? “Well this is a first,” and “nice stream.” At this, some of the blonde co-eds attending the fourth floor piss-out blanched, if that is possible, like I was some sort of perv…and fled.
A few days later there was another noisy hallway incident and I totally lost it–unleashing a string of epithets that shocked even me. The term dumb f—- was reiterated.
It seemed like yesterday when I gave these miscreants my nostalgic speech about my own college experiences at mid-20th century. I had almost cooled myself out — that is until a recent incident.
I was on the phone next day to our Apartment manager and the police. Was there anything to be done, after the (alleged) fact?
Our police-beat supervisor told me, off the record, that, indeed, frats aren’t renting to Irish male summer students and that this had led to increased disturbances on the South Side. The police are issuing what warnings they can.
I thought back to my college days at Champaign-Urbana in the late fifties. I was now living in my private Spring Riot. Spring Riot made news. Students tore up the town every Spring and the press ate it up.
Panty raids were popular. So I have some experience with “ridiculous” behavior.
12:20 a.m. disturbance outside my door. The irish summer students were leaving their party, they said. The knew they had awakened me and wanted me to admit I was pissed-off. I took a swig of their Vodka and Seven (weak) just to be collegial. They invited me (as “Mr. Bandana,” my costume complete with blue-tint-shades) to go to Kip’s or Pappy’s for Karaoke. “You’d be good,” they said.
“You have no idea,” I replied.
According to an eye-witness on the street, they tumbled out of our building and harassed a sleeping homeless woman. They want to disturb. Mitch, a nearby vangabond emerged from his battered street rig and began banging a metal iron about. He banged on his own van until the cops took him away.
I was all bent out of shape at first, but now I’m down with the Irish Invasion. You can’t get stories like these every summer.
now that they’re gone, I kind of miss them.
Pass the Guinness
