The Spire

Olivia Pan ’20

Chief Opinions Editor

I’m sure I am not the first college student who has dealt with their fair share of disgusting dorm bathrooms that would send any normal person in search of a hazmat suit. However, most recently I came upon a truly peculiar and rather disturbing site in one of the communal showers in my dorm hall: pieces of chunked and sliced apple tossed on the shower floor. Now, aside from this being insanely gross and downright absurd, it has also lead me to consider the true implications of such mistreatment of a communal facility, within a very wealthy and privileged college campus.  

I am talking about the spoiled little Holy Cross girls who are sending out a message of privilege and self-entitlement to all of those around them when they engage in behavior such as this. I am not just talking about the lack of respecting one’s hall mates, when deliberately bypassing a barrel and throwing food into a shared shower. I am referring to a lack of respect for the cleaning staff who clean our bathrooms every week. These people do not have glamorous jobs nor are they paid huge sums of money. They should not be forced to deal with dirty, filthy habits exhibited by many people, like the one that was created by the apple bandit. The truth is, we are a group of privileged college students, however your bill is payed, with many of our parents spending thousands of dollars to send us to this school. When we treat public facilities like garbage, we are waving that privilege in people’s faces and broadcasting to cleaning personnel, “We could care less. You simply do not matter. You are invisible and beneath my respect.”

Perhaps the individual who took it upon themselves to dispose of sliced apple in the shower was either too stupid or too drunk to know the difference between a trash can and a shower. Or perhaps the large, silver cylindrical object a mere six feet from the shower was entirely foreign to her. One question I do have for this person is, would you behave this way in your own home? Say

you were home over the weekend, and wanted to dispose of your apple-would you throw it in the shower? I’d love to see how your parents or siblings would react to that. 

I won’t just single out the apple bandit as we have hall mates who have thrown chocolate in the shower and again it begs the question: WHY? We have people who throw food into sinks and leave all manner of debris in these common areas. One head scratcher is the person who simply cannot find the flushing mechanism after using a toilet- clue, it is not far from the actual toilet. The last time anyone has had to flush a toilet for me was perhaps when I was three, using my lamb step stool to reach the commode. Since then I’ve gotten it down pat. 

Maybe we should place a big sign on the even bigger trash receptacle that says “Hey Brainless, dispose of your food, dirty utensils, tissues, and other miscellaneous trash right here. Thank you! -the Management.” 

The next time you get the urge to leave debris around, or toss food in showers or sinks, please think of the hard working individuals who clean up after you. Then think about the classmates who live with your disregard and filth. Then think about what it says about you that you are this entitled in this small microcosm of the world that is college. Last, think about finding the barrel and using it. Namaste.