Being Size 13

Perfect, just perfect, I think as I “do my business” in the fifth floor bathroom. It’s my second day of freshman year, and there’s no toilet paper in my stall.

I think about yesterday, when my English teacher called me out into the hallway.

“X-Y-Z,” she whispered.

“What?” I asked, not understanding what these letters meant.

“Your zipper.”

I look down at my unzipped cargo shorts. I blush. The teacher tells me it’s fine, and we laugh it off.

I’m still sitting in my stall waiting for something. A miracle, perhaps? Maybe a huge roll of Charmin Ultra-Plush will appear if I pray hard enough.

Then, like the sound of angels’ trumpets, the bathroom door creaks open. I see some size 13 shoes go into the stall next to me. Now’s my chance. You can either ask the guy that looks like a huge football player, or wait for the after-hours custodian. I clear my throat.

“Hey. Umm. This is kinda awkward, but do you have any toilet paper over there?”

“Yeah,” the upperclassman says as he rolls some school-style, scratchy, thin toilet paper underneath the stall wall.

“Thanks,” I say, blushing.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. Happens all the time.”

Perfect, just perfect, I think as I “do my business” in the fifth floor bathroom. It’s my second day of freshman year, and there’s no toilet paper in my stall.

I’m a senior now, and I’ve put it upon myself to be like that guy to all the underclassmen I meet. To be Size 13. Whether it’s inviting a freshman to eat lunch at the junior and senior table, or shooting some hoops with some of the younger guys at my youth group. As an upperclassman who’s been blessed with friends, I feel like I should pay it forward to as many people as possible.

I want to encourage all of my fellow upperclassmen to reach out to the freshmen and sophomores of our school. Make them feel welcome at games, be a good influence on them, help them find their classes – if their fly is down, mention it to them in private.  Most importantly, don’t be embarrassed to roll the toilet paper under the stall. Because we’re a family. And strong families are based off big brothers and sisters like Size 13.