How many times have you overheard the following exchange during your walk to class?
“Hey wanna have dinner later?”
“No, I can’t, I’ve got a test, two papers, a group meeting and six quizzes tomorrow, and I’m swamped for the rest of the week…how about next month?”
Ok, I don’t actually hear that all the time. But I am disturbed by the lengths to which people on this campus go to tell me about all the work they have.
Take for example another conversation.
“Hey what’s up?”
“Nothin, just a little tired, I’ve got seven hundred pages to read by six o’clock, I still haven’t copied these notes that Sara gave me, and now I can’t find her, and…”
Does anybody talk about anything else? In my years here I’ve done my share of work, but I’ve also done a fair share of aimless hanging around, which is quite therapeutic I might add. I’ve been asked, repeatedly, why it doesn’t seem like I have any work to do. Shut up. I’m just as swamped as you are, I just make time for other things too! And I don’t complain about it (often)! It’s a novel concept! This is what I’d like to say to these people, except usually it’s more like…”No, I’ve got work to do, but I have a special ‘Get Out of Homework Free’ card which allows me extra leisure time. It’s like buying a brown parking permit.” What bothers me most is that it’s an anomaly that someone is smiling on campus.
Then there’s this whole other category of people who complain about all the extra-curricular activities for which they have to go to meetings and how much time that takes up (Okay, don’t hate, I do this too). To these people I wanna say “You signed up, Big Bird.” Next time someone says they’re stressed out over those activities, either kick them in the shins, or tell them about some made-up group you’re a member of.
More than likely they won’t be listening anyway because they’re probably looking for a clock to tell them how late they are to their next line in the red planner.
Then, when they’ve given you a half-assed, “Maybe I’ll see you this weekend.” say something like, “Nah, probably not, I’ve got this big (insert assignment) coming up in about 2 weeks and I gotta get started.” You’ll fit right in.
Don’t get me wrong folks, I’m all about some academia. But we’re here to learn, most of all from each other. And if the best subject we can come up with during daily interaction is how close we are to heart attacks and ulcers, something is seriously wrong.
I understand the pressure to do well in school; we all feel it, some to greater degrees. But that B+ in History that you’re gonna sweat and drool over and complain about until it’s an A-? I hate to tell you, but it just ain’t that important. Happy Hour, however….
So next time you’re chatting with someone about school (which you’ll probably be in ten minutes) think before you begin griping…Does this person really care? Is their work situation trivial enough that they’re gonna remember how much I have, much less empathize? Maybe you could subtly steer the conversation elsewhere and we’ll all be better off.
Thanks for reading this. Now I’ve got to get to work on my five papers due this Tuesday.