Valuing the invaluable

Soon after kickoff of this year's home opener against Clemson, a certain chant began as our beloved Eagles took the field. Surrounded by that sea of gold, you too begin saying it with pride and conviction: We are BC. In that moment, the student section is united in its egalitarian proclamation. Yet, as I've witnessed all too often, the moment that many of us leave the gates of Alumni Stadium we also leave the ideals behind the concept of "We are BC." One only needs to look to the experience of the Boston College Dining Services employees to realize how much and how often this community fails to live up to those ideals.

Every day, thousands of students grab a coffee on the way to class, enjoy lunch at Hillside or the Eagle's Nest, and satiate their cravings with evening runs to late-night. Undoubtedly, Dining Services provides an essential fuel for the goings-on of this campus; without that coffee, the eyelids of those in the 8 a.m. section of Literary Forms or the 9 a.m. section of Survey of Biology would undoubtedly be droopier. Without those sandwiches, 50-minute classes would seem to take 50 days.

Without those chicken fingers, many of us would be left to the delights of the basement vending machine or the rarely inexpensive delivery option.

Yet when you make a special request for your sandwich to be made just so, or stumble incoherently into Corcoran Commons or McElroy, do you really consider the person on the other side of the counter? Chances are they were there for hours before you arrived, and will be there for hours after you leave.

Many of them are students simply trying to earn a little extra money by providing a service that none of us could go without, and yet many of us display ingratitude at best, and disrespect at worst.

BC prides itself on being a community based on respect and equality for all people - a place where men and women truly are for others. I do not mean to suggest that this is not true, because we see in many instances the ways in which it is: the ways in which the people of this community give of themselves and ask for nothing in return. But if one takes the time to examine whether they practice what they preach, it becomes easy to see the ways in which we falter.

Quite honestly, I count myself among those who are guilty of the offenses I've described; I'm sure there are multiple times when I failed to comply with what I normally would consider appropriate etiquette. But the bottom line is, whether these lapses become a pattern, and if that pattern escalates. When you're getting food at late-night, take a second to engage whoever might be on the other side of the line, and you'll get to see another side of things. You may hear of the blatantly drunk students attempting to serve themselves at 1:30 a.m. You might be asked whether the cavalcade of rowdy Superfans is en route from Conte, and you'll see the relief on their faces when they hear that there's still five minutes left in the second half.

At the end of the line, I strongly believe that we must recommit ourselves as a community to the ideals that unite us, and truly stand behind the idea that we are BC.

At the heart of this University are the students, acting as both providers and consumers. Yet there exists a distinct imbalance in this relationship, where gratitude and respect are due to the invaluable, many of whom are just normal students who provide the vital coffee, sandwiches, and chicken fingers. It is not impossible for us to begin to truly value the invaluable; in fact, it is quite easy. If we simply open our minds before we open our mouths, we are one step closer to fulfilling the promise of "We are BC."

Andrew Kaplun is a Heights staff columnist. He welcomes comments at kaplun@bcheights.com.