But.
I am absolutely appalled at the behavior of my fellow students on social media today. The amount of disrespect towards our president (who has a remarkably good attitude towards a student body that has treated him so poorly) and the negativity has put me over the edge. So here is my rebuttal complaint, reserved for my blog. Where, if you're reading it, it is assumed you care what I think, otherwise why bother being here.
1) You are not the Victim- The amount of laziness and victim mentality is astounding. No one is out to get you, no one is going out of their way to make you suffer. Yes, it is slightly inconvenient to go to class today. "Inconvenient" is the watch word. I know the "people have it worse off" argument is pretentious and annoying, but it also still rings true. There are people out there working a lot harder to get an education without crying about it.
I have no problem with a person that says "I don't feel like going to class today." That's honest, and we've all been there. But don't say "The administration is trying to kill us all, they don't care about us, blah blah blah…" No one is crying for your drama. Suck it up.
2) You are being Selfish- I understand that it's hard for commuters. But you signed up to be a commuter at a school in Northeast Ohio. I did not. Every missed class is between $30-40 lost; don't expect me to waste that money just because you can't be there. You are a grown up, it's college, and obviously people will understand if you can't make it to class. Don't expect me not to show up because you can't.
Plan ahead, if you need to. If you were worried about missing a concert, or formal, or a date, would you have been able to find an alternative? Could you have driven to campus and stayed with a friend the night before? We knew this weather was coming. Be a boy scout and prepare.
3) Value Yourself- Why should the administration have more value for your life/safety than you do? If you truly feel that you will die of hypothermia, don't go out. If you are certain you will end up in a ditch and die, don't drive (I have both driven and walked in this weather, and had neither of those issues). Are they making it more difficult for you to decide to stay home? Yes. Are they forcing you to put your life at risk? No. You're in college, you've skipped class before. You just were hoping you could have permission for it this time.
4) Grow Up- Adults do not get snow days. If the weather is bad, their boss may be lenient as to when they show up, but they can not afford to just shut the business down. Your professors? Adults that are driving to campus to work. The administrators you're bashing? All still at work, even when the rest of school has a snow day. We are preparing for adulthood people, and sometimes that includes more than just your thesis.
5) Stop Complaining- Does it suck? Yes. Does complaining help? No. From a PR perspective, we are making our campus look really, really awful right now. A community built on negativity is not one I want to be a part of. Let's connect in a more creative way. When all the electricity was out for a week last year, some of the best memories were made. We made it fun, as a campus. So why can't we keep that attitude? Sometimes things are scary and the weather is unpredictable (although in this case, it really wasn't). Embrace it and share the experience together.
Choose your attitude, people.
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