Skeptical Sisson Not skeptical about thanks

Author: Douglas Sisson

I'm in Chicago, away from Middlebury and spending Thanksgiving Break with my family. Just this week, my skepticism has dulled, my heart has been rejuvenated and consequently my column has been altered. Final exams and papers are on the horizon, and, while there is so much about which to be skeptical, it just seemed natural to be thankful.

I've been known to question our administration and the way they function. I will admit, sometimes I critique those friendly faces in Meeker House and Old Chapel, often to an intense degree, but it's all in the spirit of tough love. As privileged students, we take the luxuries around us for granted, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, how about being thankful for a change, even for Middlebury's administration.

Students at Middlebury College do not show enough appreciation for the dining hall staff. We come from privileged backgrounds where home refrigerators and kitchen cupboards are expected to be overflowing with food. Middlebury's students for one reason or another are often fueled with entitlement and self-motivated priorities. When's the last time you stopped and made eye contact with one of the chefs working behind the counter in Ross Dining Hall? Rather than demand that the tofu container in the salad bar be refilled, try being thankful the College doesn't just let your vegetarian community starve during lunch.

We forget how amazingly blessed our lives are, and frequently forget to vocalize this appreciation. The only dialogue I tend to exchange with dining hall staff is an apology after being reminded that lunch is over and the tables need to be cleaned. There is no excuse for getting mad at the dining hall staff for trying to do their job. I'm not thankful that the trays have disappeared in the dining halls, but the dining staff is not to blame.

Clearing snow from sidewalks and roads is a tough job that rarely gets acknowledged. Middlebury's facilities workers wake up when it's dark and cold so that sleepy-eyed students safely arrive to class on time. When the entire school was able to sleep in last spring during the epic snow day, numerous facilities workers were hard at work clearing snow. Around the clock service, 365 days a year, is a valiant effort to say the least. Considering all the people who you've thanked in the last week, a facilities worker should be at the top of the list rather than the narcissist sitting across from you in the library.

And don't forget to thank the custodial staff that gets on their knees to scrub any signs of the mold I can't even see from the shower curtains. Many students entertain their hypochondriatic tendencies by washing their hands frequently and eating healthily. If the custodian staff was to not sanitize our resident halls at the level students have snobbishly regarded as the norm, all the Vitamin C in the world could not expunge the smell of vomit from a bathroom floor.

I give thanks to the College registrar's office, their familiar smiling faces and those friendly e-mails reminding me what needs to be accomplished in order to graduate. I'm thankful for the underappreciated department coordinators who make filling out degree and advisor forms - which are fabulously organized - less stressful and enjoyable when complimented with casual conversation. Middlebury's professors do amazing things for their students, entertaining a range of administrative obligations - like completing degree audit forms, advising students for classes, asking about our personal life - often taken for granted or overlooked by student myopia.

Demonizing students as self-involved, arrogant work-alcoholics might be a gross generalization. Still, we are often blind to the privileges and opportunities arounds us. Feed your guilty conscious with positive energy this holiday season and contribute to the holiday bonus of a facilities or custodian staff member. As for showing appreciation to a professor, you might want to avoid a gesture of thanksgiving that might be mistaken for a bribe.

Douglas Sisson '07.5 is an International Studies/Latin America major from Oak Brook, Ill.