Don’t let the door hit you
By Stephany Harrington, Opinions Editor
Lately, I’ve been having some concerns with humanity. My friends can confirm that I sometimes go on an unyielding rampage about how discourteous and rude people are. And it really does bother me how disrespectful and impolite some people are, on this campus and elsewhere. These problems are nothing new, nor are my complaints. But I have become increasingly frustrated with people.
People stopped holding doors for each other. They don’t make room for you on the sidewalk. No one says thank you for a generous act. Everyone is just going and not thinking about what they are doing. Not caring that they walked into me, or that they are screaming outside my window at three in the morning.
I am not sure how it all really happened, but people stopped caring. And I just don’t understand it. I try to be conscious of my actions and how they affect others. But apparently other people are just not on the same page.
For instance, I was at one of the drink stations at servo filling up my cup. I try to get my drink as fast as possible because I realize that a line tends to build up quite quickly. So I was doing the same things as normal, and there was someone waiting behind me. Normally when I am in line, I simply wait until the person in front of me is finished. I wait for them to fill their cup and then move out of the way. That behavior seems self-explanatory, does it not?
No, the girl waiting behind me was already trying to put her cup into the machine before mine had even filled. I was really quite baffled by it. This could easily be an overreaction, but I thought it was really rude and disrespectful. It was a pretty mellow Saturday night at Servo, and she could not wait even a couple of seconds for me to get out of the way.
“Gee…sorry for annoying you with my kindness.”
That same night, I held the door for someone as I walked out of Servo. In fact, I actually took a step back in order to catch the door because I did not initially realize she was behind me. And you know what, I should have just let it go, because not only did she not thank me, I do not even think she noticed that I held the door for her. Her eyes were glued to her phone, making her fail to acknowledge my gesture. And honestly, it’s not that big of a deal. But if I had not grabbed the door, it would have hit her in the face.
So even when I am considerate, people cannot even reciprocate with a simple “thank you.” And these things are happening so frequently that it is also making me feel indifferent. My state of frustration is quickly evolving into a state of apathy. But such is life, I suppose. This is just the way things are, whether I like it or not.
But being the bigger person requires me to act the same way that I do, and not sink to the level of disrespect that I see daily. I won’t stop holding doors or making room for other people on the sidewalk. I won’t let myself. But there is also this sort of vindictive part of me that wishes they all knew what it felt like for the door to slam in their face.
