I always thought writing the Inside Column for The Observer would be a great gig. You've got four hundred words to complain about ... well, anything you want, really.
But when I got the fateful call to actually write this column, I had to rack my brain to find a topic. For once, I had nothing to whine about. So I turned to my best resource - my roommates.
"What about the dining hall?" they said. True, the lack of a deli or sundae bar (and pretty much any good food) has been the major topic of conversation in our room since school resumed. But the fine quality of the SMC dining hall is a topic that has been beaten to death in the pages of this paper.
So the roommates left me back where I started. Other friends didn't leave me with too much either - book prices skyrocketing (no news there), no money to buy beer (I'm not 21, can't complain about that), and how hard it is to get football tickets if you're not a student (it's been done).
I can't complain about the baseball season because this isn't the sports section. I can't complain about the people who write dumb crap on the sidewalks, because I would dread opening my e-mail for the next two weeks.
I can't complain about the masses of poison ivy down by the lakes, because I haven't rolled in it. I can't complain about the South Bend weather, because it's great so far this year. And as much as it irritates me, I can't even complain about the construction on campus, because my hall is so far away that I can sleep through all of it - and regularly do.
For the first time in my life I had an open forum to gripe to the masses, or the ten people that read this, anyway. I just couldn't think of a single thing that bothered me enough to write about!
So I perused through some old issues of The Observer, looking for some ideas. I figured I could steal some poor sap's argument.
And while I was looking, I really did run across something to complain about.
I cannot stand the people who write in to The Observer to complain about dumb stuff. Really - do we need to go over and over the same argument about whether or not Notre Dame should support homosexuals? The same letter-to-the-editor rant between SMC and ND girls? The never-ending concern with the schools' policies on alcohol, tailgating and party busts?
Trust me. No moans to The Observer are going to change the way the University works, how people feel about war or even the Saint Mary's DH. So please - next time you feel a spiteful letter coming on, turn on some music, let in some fresh air and just be happy to be alive.
You have nothing to complain about.
