Day 89: Assholes in Middlebury College & Elsewhere

Feeling angry
Listening to Matt Darey - Nocturnal Sunshine Podcast 50
It's 8:34 PM
Can't believe it's May already

I have been in Middlebury College for 97 days, a little over three months, and I used to think that my school was a very nice place, a very welcoming environment (for the most part); apart from the race and rich-spoiled-kid issues, my mind never wandered off into the blackhole region of college kids being complete dicks.

Ever.

Until today.

There is a high school girl who works part-time in the dish washing room of one of the cafeterias in Middlebury College.

I like getting to know the names of people that I work with, because it creates a more friendly environment to work in. I was working in the dish room that day as well, so I proceeded to introduce myself to her.

Surprisingly, as I approached her, she asked first. "Hey, what's your name?"

I told her she could call me Bo. Then I asked her what her name was.

"Why?" she snapped.

I thought for a moment, because I knew she wasn't trying to be hostile.

"So I wouldn't have to call you 'hey' all the time, you know?"

"'Hey' is fine."

"Okay, Hey. That's cool with me."

She laughs. I guess that that was the way it was going to be for a while.

A moment later, she drops and breaks a bowl while trying to move a few trays in the dish room. Hey breaks out in anger and frustration. "Dammit!!" Slowly, she goes on to pick up the broken pieces of china with a broom and a dustpan.

She must be having a rough day. So, out of sympathy, I comment, "Having a rough day, huh?"

She stands up straight, with the broom in her left hand and the dustpan in the other, and sighs. She nods. With a tired voice, she finally opens her mouth, "Do you want me to tell you my name?"

Strange to ask me that now.

I stop unloading the dishes from the racks. I give her a half-smiling, half-confused look. "Uhhh, I don't see anything wrong with that."

"You ... can call me 'bitch'," she declares.

"...."

I didn't know what to say. A pause. "Uhh.. Why would you want me to call you that?"

"Because everyone calls me a bitch." Hey's voice quivers slightly.

It felt somewhat out of place to continue the personal talk in the dish room, but this was too interesting to let go just because the back of my mind yelled out something to me.

"Will you tell me why?"

You could definitely sense a mix of anger in her tone. "You wouldn't understand. Nobody would understand."

"Oh..." Again, I had nothing to say.

But Hey didn't care. She didn't give a damn.

She was on the verge of snapping, and what she needed was to just vent and let it out... that she has been taking landscaping classes since a couple years ago, and recently, started working part-time for a small landscaping business around Middlebury.

Hey's workplace is supposedly full of lazy slackers. So, she does more work than she is supposed to do, and plain right pissed off because of this, she tells the slackers off.

Okay, guess what they call her because of that.

Wait for it...

Wait for it.....

Wait.......

You got it.

Her coworkers call her a bitch.

They call her a bitch just because she is a responsible person.

They call her a bitch just because she is diligent in what she does.

They call her a bitch just because she is a hard worker, has great work ethics, and feels that people shouldn't get paid for slacking off.

Because of the way she gets treated for her persistent effort in her work, Hey is the person who she is right now, rife with bitterness and a sour attitude.

Way to go, people. Way to go. Isn't society overflowing with trash?

Anyway, time passes and it's 8:20 PM. It's way past time to get ready to close down the cafeteria. For the dish room people to leave by 8:45 PM, they must wash all the dishes, cups, racks and utensils, clean the place up and stack everything outside. But this can never be possible if all the dishes and utensils are not returned by 8:00 PM. That's why cafeteria hours are until 8:00 PM and not a minute later.

And guess what! It's 8:20 PM and there are still groups of people in the cafeteria, still chatting and eating. This means we're probably going to leave work pretty late. This definitely pisses Hey off.

There are four people working in the dish room, and Hey decides to be the one who kicks the people out.

So she goes.

So she goes to a table where a half dozen guys are sitting.

She is dying to get back home as soon as the clock hits 8:45 PM, but she keeps her cool.

"Hey, we're closing, so it would be really great if you guys could return the dishes."

The two boys closest to her just nod. "Uh-huh." And they continue their conservation with each other.

What in the hell happened? Hey does not understand what just happened. She presses on.

"I mean, we are closing right now."

"Uh-huh."

Oh, the frustration!

"And we need to wash the dishes, like right now."

"Uh-huh." (I'm not making any part of this story up)

She raises her voice a little bit.

"Really, we need the dishes so we can close down."

"Uh-huh."

Hey is about to snap anytime now.

"No, you don't understand. The cafeteria's closed and we really, really need the dishes so we can wash them and close the place down."

"Uhhh-huh."

She cracks.

"Alright. I've told you guys already that we need the dishes. The cafeteria closes at eight, and it's eight twenty right now. We really need your dishes so we can close down the cafeteria, and go home so we can continue on with our fucking lives. The longer you stay here and the longer you hold on to your dishes, the longer we have to stay here and the longer we have to wait until we can get on with our fucking lives!"

"Uh-huh."

The boys did not hear anything of what she said. Seething with frustration, Hey gives up.

But just as she turns to walk away, you could clearly hear one of the boys say, albeit a little too loudly, "What a bitch."

Hey hears this as well. And I bet you that she went back home crying in pure anger.

Just because she was doing her job.

Just because she was doing her stupid job, she gets this.

Way to go, Middlebury College. Way to go. Not just full of judgmental racists and rich spoiled kids, but also douchebags as well.

And "douchebag" would be an understatement.