This year on campus, many students seem unable to walk through doors without colliding, or nearly doing so, with students coming from the other direction.

In fact, I’ve been the recipient of jammed fingers, a stubbed toe and more than a few close calls.

As I’ve observed this phenomenon and, now warily, approach the doors on campus, I’ve realized it’s not every door that students have difficulty with. It’s only double doors.

The problem is this: Many of you are trying to push your way through the left door instead of the right, and so you are opening the door into the faces, hands and feet of those coming from the other side. I think it’s a simple enough problem to correct and so I’ll explain the rule for walking through double doors.

When you approach a set of double doors, that is, one door on the left and one door on the right, you should always go through the door on the right side. This is the case regardless whether you are right-handed or left-handed.

This method, choosing the right door, allows you to pass through a doorway without injury to anyone passing through from the other side — assuming that they are also passing through the right door.

This is the method that I grew up with and have used all of my life. It was an unspoken rule and has worked very well for a very long time.

For some reason that I am at a loss to explain, some students seem to have forgotten this rule. I’m concerned about this and not just because of the pain in my fingers.

What if this is an indication of something else, something much more important than fingers and toes?

What if this is a metaphor for the choices these students will make later in life?

If you push your way through the wrong door you can cause frustration and pain for the people on the other side.

What if you follow this pattern in your personal and professional relationships?

If you can’t manage to get through a doorway without causing harm, what will be the result of the more important choices you’ll make?

There is some evidence to back up my concerns.

Think for a minute of the students who believe that free speech not only allows but requires the use of obscenities in their speech and writing.

This kind of abrasive language is not acceptable in a professional setting. These students should work to develop a better vocabulary. They should dig a little deeper into the lexicon and find a more mature way to express themselves. Future employers will certainly expect it, to say nothing of their future spouses and children.

In this case, their language pushes against the sensibilities of others and, just like when they push against the wrong door, pain can be the result — pain in the form of lost jobs or loss of relationships.

Or consider the students who choose to disregard other people’s rights to a quiet place to study. They engage in loud conversations with friends or on cell phones outside of classrooms or in computer labs — by the way, a few staff members should see themselves here.

Is it too much to ask that they step away from the classroom or out of the lab to hold these conversations?

Their disregard for the rights of others is just as likely to cause frustration as efforts to go through the wrong door. Will they be able to maintain long-term relationships if they are so careless about the rights of others?

What about the students who, when assigned to work in a group, do not fulfill their part of the assignment, thereby lowering the grade for the entire group?

These group assignments mirror the cooperative effort required to be successful after graduation—effort required by employers as well as in personal relationships.

I’ve been in groups where this happened and I know how frustrating it is when one person’s laziness affects my grade—the same laziness it takes to go through the wrong door.

These are examples of simple choices some students make without any thought of the effect to themselves or others.

These are all choices that can create frustration and pain. These are choices made in the name of self-expression, or under the mistaken impression that they have a right to these choices regardless of the rights of others.

Someone once said that tomorrow’s opportunities depend on the choices we make today. I wonder what future opportunities will be available — what doors will be opened tomorrow — for students who can’t successfully go through a door today.

Hopefully, you will begin to consider the consequences of your actions.

Once you do, I feel certain you will choose the right door.

By DARIENNE ARCURI
Editor
darcuri@ius.edu