As a Followup to my Last Post...

Maybe I should have directed my last post at a few of the people from my class. Today I learned that there's apparently some weird variant of "gunner bingo" going on in my class (although no one's admitted to it yet), and the guy in front of me was tallying up my comments and about along with those of 4 others right in front of me in the middle of class. Being that he was rude enough to do this in plain view, during the break between classes, I asked him if that was in fact what he was doing, which he vehemently denied and then proceeded to tell me "don't touch my stuff". Excuse me, but you're doing this right in front of me during class in plain view. I didn't touch anything on your desk nor did I rifle through any of your paperwork.

This is where we have ourselves a little lesson on manners. First, I understand the need to engage in these types of games for some people. Some do it to relieve stress, some do it to alleviate boredom, and some do it to make money. Whatever your reasons are for playing these games, I'm fine with it, have fun, enjoy yourselves, and go make lots of money. My problem is when people do this right in front of me and it distracts me from class or makes me feel uncomfortable about asking questions or making comments. Wouldn't it be a little disconcerting to you to have someone have your name on a sheet of paper with tally marks next to it every time you said something? If you're going to play these games, at least have the common courtesy to not let the people know that you're doing it by leaving such things out in the open and marking them off in class. Such things have a potential to create a hostile learning environment and are just not necessary. You can take care of the extracirriculars after class.

Also, if you're going to do this out in the open, you have no right to get offended when someone who is involuntarily involved in your game questions you about it. You're using my name in a game you're playing (or maybe a paper you're writing, if that's what you claim to be doing) and as a result, I have a right to question, complain, bitch, gripe, and moan about it if I want to. If he had explained an alternative and valid reason for making tally marks next to my name every time I commented, I'd have gladly listened and even apologized for questioning him in the first place. This does not in any way indicate that he has no right to engage in doing what he's doing. He absolutely does, but I want to know about it and feel I'm justified in asking about it.

This more or less comes down to me wanting to know and feeling I have a right to know about things that I'm a party of, and which people have not made me aware of. I'm not trying to kill your fun here. If you had told me that's what you were doing, I would simply have asked you to do it in between classes where I couldn't see you doing it. I wouldn't have demanded that you stop or even complained about you doing it on the whole. I can take jokes and being poked fun at. It's a part of life and if you feel you need to get your kicks at others' expense, then that's up to you. I won't interfere. I just don't want you creating a hostile learning environment for me and others that you don't particularly like because we elect to participate in class. I have the right to be free of intimidation or hostility and I ask that you respect that right.