Something that has always bothered me is people’s lack of compassion on campus. Every day we walk past one another and we rarely, if ever, speak. Yes, we are all focused on accomplishing specific goals, but we also carry around our own personal burdens.
It’s expressed in how rudely we bump one another or watch the doors close in someone’s face as they try to catch the elevator. We’re quick to catch attitudes with one another if we’re accidentally bumped or pushed but aren’t willing to put in the same effort to say a simple “hello.”
There’s this overall disregard for politeness that has consumed so many people causing them to have this “Leave me alone” or “I don’t want to be bothered” attitude. It’s become second nature.
Unless our school is making headlines for being a finalist in the NCAA tournament or it’s time to defend our title of “The Real GSU,” some students don’t really support the university. During these occasions everyone is proudly wearing Georgia State attire, excessively tweeting #TheREALGSU, #AllBlueAllIn and #StateNOTSouthern, shouting the infamous GSU game chant, “I believe…” There’s so much school pride that it’s inspiring, but that passion is usually dead day-to-day.
You may not be aware of this, but a lot of us are walking around with a semi-permanent stank face and it’s not just the women either. The only time we give a person a second look is to judge their attire, hair or something else just as vain. People will do a full body scan until they find something to criticize you on.
This careless behavior has gone so far as to affect student involvement on campus. Student Government Association elections are taking place the week of April 6 – April 12 and I’m sure that a lot of students don’t know about it; some of the students that do know about the elections aren’t even going to participate.
So why have so many students adopted this apathy towards each other and student organizations like SGA? Simply put, we don’t care. If people don’t see immediate changes or a personal benefit gained, student organizations mean nothing. The only time we really begin to acknowledge each other is usually during a campaign for something.
Whether it’s homecoming titles or a candidacy, you can expect people to become extra friendly; otherwise, you’re faceless. We’re guilty of using one another. Amazing how our invisible cloaks disappear and everyone suddenly regains their manners.
How do we boost morale and recover compassion? Both cases boil down to the treatment of others. As cliché as it sounds, treat people the way you want to be treated. It’s not complicated.
I’m not saying go out of your way to give each individual person you encounter a compliment or go out of your way to do some grand gesture; responding when someone greets you will suffice. If that’s too much of a chore then perform another cliché and that’s, “If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.” A quick head nod or wave is acceptable too. At least two of my college friendships were formed all because of an easy “hello.”
Considering you see some of the same people at least twice a week in a class of 20 (minimum), being cordial shouldn’t be that hard.
It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to randomly become polite, but it’s something we can work towards. That being said, have a great day everyone!
