You know who they are and they know who you are. From that girl you peed with to that guy who bought you slices, Colgate’s unique social scene frequently consists of these unplanned night time encounters. On a weekly basis you meet new people downtown due to some odd circumstance. At this moment in time there’s a spark, a connection, or sometimes a confrontation. You might have exchanged names, phone numbers, or mozz sticks and regardless if you may or may not remember who they are, that moment was real. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Maybe they photobombed a picture you took, held your hair back as you vomited, stole your jacket, or cut you in the jug line. Whether you shared pics of your golden retriever or concluded that your professor is clearly psychotic, you had a moment with someone … and you both know it happened.
Unfortunately, one of those thirteen men with thirteen dollars and thirteen prayers must have also started a tradition of ignoring the existence of all night time acquaintances come daylight. Your adoption of this behavior probably began after the first time you were ignored. Naturally, you were probably planning to give your first acquaintance some form of recognition, but you learned quickly that 99.9% of the time that other person will present you with a look of sheer oblivion. So, regardless of whether you know someone’s hometown or let someone dip their pizza in your ranch, if you see that person on the quad you gaze past them and keep walking. The sad reality is, the person you’re ignoring is probably doing the same thing. Why do we reinforce this cycle? Can it be that they truly have no recollection of who you are? Or is this just what we do here?
Yes, I’m obnoxiously making yet another toothpaste reference and noting this behavior as the “Colgate smile,” or lack thereof. The smile has been transformed into a glance, followed by looking away, combined with an unfriendly, stagnant closed-mouth. It has become a cultural practice on this campus to ignore someone you know for absolutely no reason. But they were so friendly and nice last night! It’s engrained in our day to day performance to sport expressions of ignorance and apathy. You know who that person is, but you’re still going to act like you don’t and you’re going to keep doing it and not care. This practice is simply mind-boggling, and we are all guilty of it. Is it that hard to acknowledge someone’s existence? Is it possible to spend 0.2 seconds to look at someone and smile? And I mean actually smile. No one likes to be ignored … it sucks. I wish every time someone ignored someone they knew at this school a loud speaker would blast the lyrics “…now you’re just somebody that I used to know.” Not only would it be painfully hilarious, but it would efficiently call out everyone who’s doing it … because it is everyone!
The act of smiling cross-culturally represents a positive and friendly greeting. It is the easiest thing you can do. I say we stop this rude custom, end this vicious cycle, and finally bridge the gap between nightlife and daylight. Next time you see a familiar acquaintance, flash those pearly whites and let your dimples shine. Show that person you remember them because they remember you.
Photo Credit: http://www.styleblueprint.com/…