2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial: Face up to "close proximity living"
Issue date: 11/9/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
College is a lot like a large fish tank. At first, you live in your own little bowl and it doesn't particularly matter what you do because it's your space, it's your neon green gravel in the bottom and all the fish flakes that gets dropped in is yours.
But then, enter your life at Trinity. Suddenly, your bowl has been dumped into a 100-gallon habitat and you have to learn to share and care and respect. Or not. There are countless times in our days when we are faced with choices that will affect other people. Should I straighten out that park job so that someone else can fit next to me? Should I wait patiently in line at Coates, or cut when I see my friend six places up? Should I steal that laundry hamper just because it's cute and folds up in a way that I have never seen?
Living in a university setting is a paradox of immense independence as well as humbling dependence. It is the first few years of our life on our "own", while at the same time we do not cook our own food, wash our own dishes, clear the library of vermin or clean our own toilets. However, there is a way to enjoy this privilage while recognizing that not everyone lives this way.
College is supposed to prepare you for the real world, and that does not just mean making a whole lot of money. It ought to also mean respecting everyone in your environment. We, the Editorial Board, call on you to fight the social injustices of Close Promitiy Living.
Close Promimity Living is sort of like the college equivilant of Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every thing you do, big or small, to recognize someone else's existence or contributions to the fish tank, it makes a difference in the quality of life for everyone.
When you see a garbage can that is already overflowing with bottles of tea and sandwich paper wrappings, accept that there isn't room for your apple core and walk 50 feet to the next recepticle so that the person who has to empty that can doesn't spill garbage all over themselves. When someone graciously makes your sandwich or cooks your pasta, look them in the eye and say thank you. These people are on their feet all day making your food the way you want it. Whether or not you like paying Aramark prices, it's important to recognize the human element behind the cooporation. You don't have to walk down the sidewalk like you own it, and you don't have to drive that golf cart like you're not on a sidewalk. Oh yeah, and if you accidentily bump into someone or step on them, it might be worth it to say 'excuse me.' You don't have to leave them bleeding to acknowledge that it happened.
Take on the challenge of Close Proimity Living today and make something better, even if it's for another fish.
But then, enter your life at Trinity. Suddenly, your bowl has been dumped into a 100-gallon habitat and you have to learn to share and care and respect. Or not. There are countless times in our days when we are faced with choices that will affect other people. Should I straighten out that park job so that someone else can fit next to me? Should I wait patiently in line at Coates, or cut when I see my friend six places up? Should I steal that laundry hamper just because it's cute and folds up in a way that I have never seen?
Living in a university setting is a paradox of immense independence as well as humbling dependence. It is the first few years of our life on our "own", while at the same time we do not cook our own food, wash our own dishes, clear the library of vermin or clean our own toilets. However, there is a way to enjoy this privilage while recognizing that not everyone lives this way.
College is supposed to prepare you for the real world, and that does not just mean making a whole lot of money. It ought to also mean respecting everyone in your environment. We, the Editorial Board, call on you to fight the social injustices of Close Promitiy Living.
Close Promimity Living is sort of like the college equivilant of Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every thing you do, big or small, to recognize someone else's existence or contributions to the fish tank, it makes a difference in the quality of life for everyone.
When you see a garbage can that is already overflowing with bottles of tea and sandwich paper wrappings, accept that there isn't room for your apple core and walk 50 feet to the next recepticle so that the person who has to empty that can doesn't spill garbage all over themselves. When someone graciously makes your sandwich or cooks your pasta, look them in the eye and say thank you. These people are on their feet all day making your food the way you want it. Whether or not you like paying Aramark prices, it's important to recognize the human element behind the cooporation. You don't have to walk down the sidewalk like you own it, and you don't have to drive that golf cart like you're not on a sidewalk. Oh yeah, and if you accidentily bump into someone or step on them, it might be worth it to say 'excuse me.' You don't have to leave them bleeding to acknowledge that it happened.
Take on the challenge of Close Proimity Living today and make something better, even if it's for another fish.
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