2008 Woodie Awards
A Petition for Etiquette
THE OPINION OF THE LA VOZ WEEKLY EDITORIAL BOARD
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: Editorial
Petitioners. They can be almost anywhere: standing around the corner from your classroom, lurking in the parking lot near your car, or prowling outside the doors to the cafeteria where you have less than five minutes to grab something to eat before your next class.
It's a horrible moral dilemma, not unlike whether you should stop and give that homeless guy five bucks or not. You feel bad if you brush them off or completely ignore them. After all, they're people too.
Still, they're often annoying, like those friends you avoid because you know they'll just hit you up for money. It seems as if every time petitioners approaches a students, it's either us or them who ends up looking like a jerk. If only the petitioners on campus followed a few simple rules of etiquette, life would be much easier for everyone.
De Anza College is a public school, and because of free-speech laws, petitioners can waltz onto campus for whatever, whenever. Around De Anza they fluctuate from abundance to scarcity, but you always know they're there, looking for your signature or your money, or your phone number so they can get them later.
Now, students generally go to school to learn. If a petitioner comes to De Anza, sees that a student is in a rush, and yet tries to get him to slow down and talk for a while anyways, the petitioner must know he's not going to get anywhere.
Do petitioners really think such abrasive tactics work with students? And if they do work, don't they have any qualms about employing them?
College campuses have always been seen as a goldmine of politically conscious young people, ready to get involved and effect change.
Many petitioners indeed support worthy causes - in fact, all will argue their causes are good. So it may not seem fair that so many students give them the cold shoulder.
But while racing through campus to your next class or sauntering to meet some friends, having someone rush up to your side to provide you with an earful of information without ever pausing to breathe can be a turn-off.
The problem isn't that we don't want to like petitioners, the problem is that we don't find it easy to.
Etiquette is seen as an important ideal in out society: we hold doors open for those behind us, say "Gesundheit!" when someone sneezes, and most of us try to not pee on the toilet seat.
Students know they're in a hurry, and so do petitioners. So it appears that sometimes on-campus petitioners lose their manners for their cause, trying to get a little attention.
Granted, these people need to collect signatures to receive a paycheck. Most students get that. A simple "Hi, do you have any time today?" from a proper distance is enough to not deserve a cold "Uh, no," or a complete brush-off.
Give us a little space, and we promise to try not to run from you like the Elephant man's corpse.
It's a horrible moral dilemma, not unlike whether you should stop and give that homeless guy five bucks or not. You feel bad if you brush them off or completely ignore them. After all, they're people too.
Still, they're often annoying, like those friends you avoid because you know they'll just hit you up for money. It seems as if every time petitioners approaches a students, it's either us or them who ends up looking like a jerk. If only the petitioners on campus followed a few simple rules of etiquette, life would be much easier for everyone.
De Anza College is a public school, and because of free-speech laws, petitioners can waltz onto campus for whatever, whenever. Around De Anza they fluctuate from abundance to scarcity, but you always know they're there, looking for your signature or your money, or your phone number so they can get them later.
Now, students generally go to school to learn. If a petitioner comes to De Anza, sees that a student is in a rush, and yet tries to get him to slow down and talk for a while anyways, the petitioner must know he's not going to get anywhere.
Do petitioners really think such abrasive tactics work with students? And if they do work, don't they have any qualms about employing them?
College campuses have always been seen as a goldmine of politically conscious young people, ready to get involved and effect change.
Many petitioners indeed support worthy causes - in fact, all will argue their causes are good. So it may not seem fair that so many students give them the cold shoulder.
But while racing through campus to your next class or sauntering to meet some friends, having someone rush up to your side to provide you with an earful of information without ever pausing to breathe can be a turn-off.
The problem isn't that we don't want to like petitioners, the problem is that we don't find it easy to.
Etiquette is seen as an important ideal in out society: we hold doors open for those behind us, say "Gesundheit!" when someone sneezes, and most of us try to not pee on the toilet seat.
Students know they're in a hurry, and so do petitioners. So it appears that sometimes on-campus petitioners lose their manners for their cause, trying to get a little attention.
Granted, these people need to collect signatures to receive a paycheck. Most students get that. A simple "Hi, do you have any time today?" from a proper distance is enough to not deserve a cold "Uh, no," or a complete brush-off.
Give us a little space, and we promise to try not to run from you like the Elephant man's corpse.
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