I'm willing to tolerate a lot of things: "Twilight," backseat drivers, alternative lifestyles, the continued popularity of "Grey's Anatomy," bees and/or hornets, the Jonas Brothers and chicken salads without french fries.
But if there's one thing that gets my goat, it's people who quit trying at the first sign of resistance. It doesn't matter if the task is big or small; the consequences negligible or enormous. When all it would take is a little effort and you instead decide to just not bother instead, that drives me up a wall. (How many more idioms for "annoy" can I shoehorn in here without getting under your sk - oops, I can't help myself.)
This is something that has come up too often recently with the students in my classes. Here's a seemingly innocuous example: I had two students on two separate occasions say they couldn't turn in an assignment (one that they were unable to hand in during class for whatever reason) because they couldn't find my staff mailbox.
Okay, so I can possibly see that students in a 300-level class - we're talking juniors and seniors here - can't find the room full of staff mailboxes in the humanities buildings. Obviously, this would require some ability to suspend disbelief, because it's not like this is a 54-floor office complex - it's a square building with four floors. Even if you checked every door one by one, you'd eventually find it.
But what gets me is that these students didn't think to - and bear with me here, because this might sound a little out there - ask somebody where the mailboxes might be. Instead, they just threw up their hands and said, "I couldn't do it."
So you don't know where something is? Ask somebody! This doesn't require you to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon. (Or a rocket surgeon.) Instead, they just gave up. This I cannot abide. The more I thought about this, however, I realized my distaste for this apathetic attitude is both personal and patriotic. Let me explain.
Ever since I was in college and editor of the school newspaper, it's been my personal motto - which I stole from the newspaper's unofficial motto - to "Make it Happen." (Thankfully, this still seems to be the prevailing spirit among the staff members of "The Jacket.") I worked hard because I took pride in what I did and I took pride in what I did because I worked hard. (Hey, circular logic isn't just for Glenn Beck.)
I come by this honestly: from my parents, who both have shown you can do great things by just not giving up. At home, I always find what I'm looking for (keys, remote control, dog collars, holy grails) because I stubbornly refuse to quit looking until I find it. So when I see students that have no interest in effort, it's pretty much a personal affront.
But there's more to it than that (and the need for a topic to fill this space). You see, the quickness at which they gave up is also troubling to me as an American. (Hey, Chicken Little pronouncements aren't just for Glenn Beck.) That is to say, it goes against the American spirit to give up when faced with a roadblock.
What if Lewis and Clark had turned back the first time they came to a creek because they didn't want to get their pantaloons wet? What if FDR decided it would take too long to send troops to Europe? What if Martin Luther King felt working for his dream was too much of a hassle? What if Neil Patrick Harris gave up after "Doogie Howser" went off the air? What if Sarah Palin decided being utterly, wholly and completely unqualified to run the country was reason not to run for high office? OK, that last one isn't a good example.
So really, when those students decided finding a mailbox was too hard, they weren't just failing their professor, they were failing Lady Liberty, George Washington and Christopher Columbus. (Hey, non sequitur hyperbole isn't just for Glenn Beck.)
So really, when faced with letting down an entire country or asking where the staff mailboxes are, which is really the easiest way to go?
Brandon Szuminsky can be reached at bszuminsky@heraldstandard.com.(Hey, e-mail isn't just for Glenn Beck.)
November 06, 2009