To start with, I’d like to direct your attention to the word “dormmates.” I’m not looking specifically at roommate relationships.
No, I’m talking about people who are disrespectful to the rest of their floor or even, perhaps, to the entire dorm building. I expect there are two types of people who fall into this category: the ones who do not realize they are being disrespectful, and the ones who know exactly what they’re doing and don’t care.
This is directed to both groups, either as a wake-up call or as a slap in the face or, perhaps, as both.
When it comes to sharing a living space with other people, certain sacrifices or compromises must, at times, be made in order to respect those with whom one is living.
So let’s get one thing straight: This is college, kiddos. Some of us are busy individuals, people who value their sleep and their study time
Perhaps you don’t care about sleep, grades or anyone else. I don’t really care whether or not you care about such things, but that doesn’t excuse your disrespect because some of us do care about getting enough sleep or doing well in school or whatever else.
If you want to blast music at 2 a.m., put in some headphones or turn the volume way down. You’re keeping me up at night. If you want to scream at the football game, do it in a public place. You’re making it difficult for me to study.
If you want to smoke weed, do it away from the dorm. Everyone in the building can smell it, and it gives some of us migraines.
This is where some of you will undoubtedly say something along the lines of, “If we’re bothering you so much, why don’t you just go somewhere else?” To you, here is my reply: A dorm hall is not a public place. It is a place of residence, a place where people go to rest, study or find solace from the outside world.
When you keep us up at night by being loud or scream down the hall while we’re trying to study – whether you realize it or not – you are being disrespectful to the rest of your floor. We often have nowhere else to go for silence and solace.
If you want to be loud, you can go most anywhere. To be alone, one must be in his or her room, and your intrusion upon our solitude takes that away from us.
I, thus, end by making one last plea: Be respectful to those with whom you live, whether that be your roommate, those on your floor or those in your building as a whole. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy college.
I just want you to be aware that some of us need our peace and quiet. Making the people with whom you live miserable only makes life difficult for everyone involved. So be considerate, be aware and don’t be a jerk.
