I am suddenly reminded of an incident from my college days. I was 24 and living in student housing, but the over-21 housing wasn't supervised and bed-checked like the under-21 housing was. I have never been much of a party person. I was serious about the fact that I was, first and foremost, a student. That meant going to classes. Which meant I needed sleep. My roommate (not one I chose, but we were assigned to the same unit) and several others living in the apartment building were more concerned about the fact that hey, we're legal adults now. That means we get to do whatever we want, so let's PAR-TAYYYY! It was a school night, and classes were starting in another four hours, but they were still up and having a good old time. My roommate wanted them there, so I didn't feel I could make them leave. But their noise was keeping me from sleeping. Eventually I got angry, walked into the room, and announced, "It's three o'clock in the (obscenity) morning! Normal people are in bed by now!" This prompted one party animal to brush me off with, "Oh, well, I've never been normal," and they just kept on with what they were doing.

I never did know how to set boundaries. Somewhere in my head I expect to hear, "Well, who are you, Miss High and Mighty?" And often I do actually hear that. Or I might get some variation of, "You're no fun. I don't like you." Which, for reasons that are my own character weakness and need for approval, just makes me crumble.