When did rudeness become the normal way to behave?

By: Michelle Anstett
Editor-in-chief

I never really, until the last few days, realized how truly and outwardly rude people on this campus can be to one another.

A few days ago, I witnessed two girls leaving the mailroom in Stockdale, where a third girl was conversing with the mail lady, telling all about whatever trials and tribulations her life was currently throwing at her. The two leaving the mailroom, somehow viewing themselves as superior to the girl holding the conversation, commented they felt sorry for the mail lady; no one would have been listening to the girl’s problems otherwise.

They put the mail lady in league with hairdressers and bartenders: by virtue of her profession, she has to listen to everyone who speaks to her and must be civil. Forget the fact that the mail lady just might be a must more genuine, caring human being (and I believe she is) than they are. These two girls simply thought, since they didn’t want to know about the other girl’s problems and she may be a bit different from what they view to be “normal,” the things she was saying were not worth being heard by anyone.

Another incident, witnessed a day later, showed a young man completely ignoring another who spoke to him. This happened on the first floor of Wallace Hall in between busy class times, so anyone walking through could have seen this incident and witnessed the young man’s embarrassment.

Granted, the one who was trying to speak did get the other gentleman’s name wrong, but that was absolutely no reason to hurl expletives at him and roll his eyes in disgust.

Whatever happened to civility and common decency? Were we not taught to respect others, even when they are different from ourselves?

What is the point of going to a college which prides itself on not only its racial and ethnic diversity, but also diversity of personality, when we don’t open ourselves up to learning how others live simply because we have clung onto some idiotic vision of high school popularity and “coolness”?

How about we wake up and smell the coffee and realize that not everyone is exactly like us, and that living in a world where everyone is popped out of the same mold playing sports and watching “The O.C.” would be the dullest experience in history?

I’m not telling you that everyone has to go out and be friends with as many people as possible, or that you have to like everyone with whom you come into contact. That is a little too pie-in-the-sky, head-in-the-clouds for me. I realize there are just people in this world that are impossible to get along with, and also people who we will be repulsed by as the result of some sort of characteristic we find unattractive.

What I am saying, however, is to let people march to the beat of their own drummers. Quite frankly, this campus is, overall, a little too white bread, cookie-cutter even for me, and I enjoy the fact that there are people around who shake things up a little. If there were no differences in background or opinion, class discussions would get boring and would put us to sleep as fast as watching paint dry.

Respect that your opinion and lifestyle is not the be-all-end-all way to live. Allow others their say and their ways of living, but don’t cramp their style. Who knows, those people who are a little bit different may turn out to be your bosses one day, and they may decide that turnabout for deeds committed in college is fair play in the workplace.