And Now for a Non-Musical Public Service Announcement: Mice in the Practice Rooms (And Allston Rats)

Remember all the awesome things about Allston? All the sushi restaurants and proximity to BU and interesting, under-30 people living there? Remember how Aerosmith wrote their first song in their apartment on Comm Ave? Remember the rich history of comedians and actors who spent their student years in this wondrous neighborhood? Well, Allston has rats. (To be fair, so does Back Bay.)

This is a dramatic re-enactment.

Rats, like most living things, eat food. They tend to like food that people leave lying around, like in a dumpster or on the street. That is why rats tend to hang around in alleys. Eventually the rats eating the food begin to multiply, which can be expressed in the following mathematical equation:

Rat plus hamburger equals two rats. Or, less literally, rat plus food equals rats everywhere.

As the rats multiply, they eventually start to take over the human population. The good news? Rats mostly live outside. The same cannot be said for mice.

Don't be fooled by the cuteness.

The domicile of mice, particularly in the winter, is indoors where they can eat dropped crumbs from unsuspecting humans and partake in the free heat. The problem is that because mice live indoors, the threat is more immediate than that of a rat. In other words, when mice live in the practice rooms in the basement of the CFA, they leave droppings and generally create an unsanitary space reminiscent of that of the Allston rat. This can be expressed thusly:

Mouse plus CFA equals Allston rat.

This isn't the end of this dark equation, however. The real truth is that an indoor space acts, for mice, the same as dumpster food for rats.

Obviously the mice need a little help from us, however. Eating in the practice room and dropping crumbs is a fast and simple way to make sure that the entire building fills with mice. This is good for exactly nobody, including the practice room eater. It is worst, though, for the student who doesn't eat in the practice room, and just wants to have a nice, focused practice session free from rodent interruptions.

Here is a time-lapse of the worst-case scenario:

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

But wait! There is good news! Eating in the student lounge, where there are tables and open space that is vacuumed regularly, is an excellent way to avoid the Practice Room Mouse. The start of a new school year is a wonderful time to introduce habits into our daily routines. This year, let's eat in the lounge, with friends (instead of in the practice room, with mice).