The students behind the ink

Edward Scott- Buisness Manager 
12/2/11

Parents who do not assign their children chores are committing neglect and child abuse and are the reasons behind the filthy state of this planet. (I exaggerate, a little.) Okay, so perhaps we should not be ready to throw all of the choreless children’s parents behind bars just yet. However, I would like to emphasize that establishing habits of cleanliness and developing a respect for shared living spaces are major components of home training and should be learned by the child at some point prior to coming to college. Not doing so leads to the foolishness that I have endured since Day One of coming to William Jewell: poor community living conditions on the part of many of my peers.

When I arrived at Eaton Hall, I expected to experience a few things: tripping over stinky cleats, hearing obnoxiously loud music, seeing random women leave after curfew to take the dreaded “walk of shame” and even the occasional boxer-briefs-only stroll of the hall—not that I had a problem with that one in particular. I imagined those things to be typical of any “man cave” experience. What I did not expect to suffer was an abundance of unflushed toilets, urine on the floor in front of the standing urinal, piles of children not rinsed out of the shower and multicolored collections of shaved hair not rinsed out of the sinks. (Where was the home-training?)

As a result of those trending behaviors, I published the infamous “Grown Ass Man List.” The list was a collection of all the things that appalled me about sharing a home with approximately 140 other men, things that I wanted to see changed.

They never did.

Consequently, the only thing I could look forward to was my sophomore year. I would be in an upperclassmen’s dorm with more mature persons: responsible, respectful and considerate adults. Sadly, I am discovering that while the persons with whom I live might be adults, the aforementioned adjectives are not universally applicable.

These things I do not understand:  Are people really so irresponsible that they would leave their clothes in the washing machines or dryers for multiple days, showing no concern for those with whom they live who would love to use the shared equipment? Take note of the cycle-time, and get your clothes on time or do not complain when they end up on the floor, random table or ironing board, still wet and molding. Are people really so lazy that they cannot bear the burden of dumping the trash in the community kitchen when they are done cooking? Salmonella kills, and roaches infest. Take the trash 15 yards down the hall to the trash room and dump it in the large trash-bags; wash those dirty dishes; wipe off the stove; know that the janitorial staff are here for sanitation-maintenance purposes and are not to be treated as maids. (Stop the foolery.) Are people still so barbaric that they feel as though flushing the toilets of the community restrooms is beyond their capabilities? I understand the whole “go green” thing, so I will say this: If it is brown, flush it down. If it is yellow, I will not cringe uncontrollably at your letting it mellow.

To be honest, I am just confused and having a hard time understanding why so many of the College’s students do not act as if they care about the conditions of our living spaces. Of course it would be completely irrational to expect everybody to have a super tidy, spick-and-span living style.  But community spaces and common areas are shared places, and they should be kept in a manner that allows everyone in the community to feel comfortable using them—not feel as though he or she is going to catch some contagious disease. Adults, peers, considerate members of this community who have had some home training, we must stop the foolishness. We need to do better. I need you to clean up.