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Common courtesy

2,593 bytes added, 04:01, August 30, 2012
In dorms
[[Category:Advice]]
Suggestions, accumulated wisdom, and community norms for how to treat strangers with considerately. Please expand.
==At doors==
# If possible, leave space on the sidewalk so others don't have to walk in water, mud, or snow. If you're walking in a group and one person comes in the opposite direction, move behind someone in your group so the person passing can use the sidewalk as well.
#* And be careful how you maneuver with that umbrella. You almost took my eye out.
# If you are innocently walking around campus in a crowd of people and you suddenly see Jack Bauer running after someone and he yells at you to get down, do it.
==In Conversation==
# When watching a movie when other people are present, don't talk (unless the movie is awful and the group as a whole wants to).
# Have some discretion when [[making out]]. Avoid egregious public displays of affection.
# If you cook in a [[Kitchens|kitchen]], for God's sake, clean up after yourself, especially if you are using other people's cookware. Don't leave your spaghetti sauce on the stove top until spring break. If you cook and "that mess was there when I got here," just take a few minutes and clean it up anyway. Your guests probably don't want to eat in filth.#*Don't take other people's ingredients. Don't use other people's cookware to store your food in. In fact, try to avoid using other people's cookware altogether, and, if you really must do so, do it so they aren't aware of the fact that you used their cookware (clean it, and don't do a half-assed job, either).
# Don't throw your old sardines, or any other stinky refuse, into the bathroom trash can. There is a trash room.
# Talk to your janitorcustodian.
# Don't destroy or abuse property. Particularly not if it belongs to somebody else.
# If you yak or see someone yak in a place that's a bit out of the way -- a basement, far-off corner, or anywhere that isn't a toilet, really -- make your best effort to tell someone responsible that there's a stinky, biohazardous mess on the floor.
#*Blasting music in the quad, no matter what time of day, is unnecessary and inconsiderate. Not everyone shares your taste in music (and even if they do, they don't necessarily want to hear it thumping through their closed windows).
# Socializing in halls is a beautiful thing, but not so much at 3 a.m. during [[reading period]]. (Especially in dorms where doors and walls are thin!) Take those extra five steps and walk into someone's room.
# Smoking pot and setting off the fire alarms is not cool, especially at 3 am.
# Make sure the toilet actually flushes when you go. It's gross to have to flush someone else's bodily functions for them.
# Put seats down on toilets after you use them- not everyone can pee standing up.
#* Point of information: humans who are not naturally blessed with cis-masculine plumbing may nonetheless enjoy a squat-free squirt by employing a [http://www.shewee.com/ Shewee], [http://www.whizbiz.com.au/html/whizplus.html Whiz Plus], or [http://www.mylafemme.com/index2.htm LaFemme].
# If you should find yourself living in a dorm where walls/doors are thin (i.e., Morgan, other recently-renovated dorms), please refrain from flinging your door wide open and letting it SLAM! behind you, creating a deafening crash. This is highly annoying no matter what time of day it is.
=== In laundry rooms ===
==In dining halls==
# If there's only one omelet left at the dining hall, ask the person behind you if they want half.
#* Likewise, if you are offered a half of an omelet, ask the person behind you if they would like a quarter... and so on.
#* If there are "only" 6 chicken tenders left and only one person in line behind you, don't take more than half. Especially if you already have a burger on your plate.
# When putting up your tray in [[Driscoll Dining Hall|Driscoll]] or [[Mission Dining Hall]], gently place your silverware into the cloudy blue dishwashing solution, don't throw it in there and splash everyone around you.
# Oh yeah, and don't try to compost paper cups, saltine wrappers, etc. -- there's a trash can for that.
# If you go outside to [[smoking|smoke]], for crying out loud, throw away your cigarette butts when you're done. Littering is not cool, ever, and this is no exception.
#If you have a plastic/glass/aluminum container to toss, but the nearest public recycling bin is full, hang onto it until you come to one that isn't full rather than making a pile on top of the bin. The [[facilities]] staff should not have to remove dozens of empty bottles sitting on top of the container before they empty it.
 
==In [[classes]]==
# Don't fall asleep in a discussion class. [[Coffee]] is your friend.
#* Don't interpret the former as the latter.
# When you go into the [[language lab]] in [[Weston]], hand your [[ID card]] to the monitor, don't just throw it into the bin.
# If you take notes on a laptop, especially in a large, dimly-let lecture (say, ARTH 101), turn the brightness down. It's easier on everyone's eyes--including your own!
#* Also, if you're "taking notes" on your laptop, don't make it too obvious that you're checking your email or watching video clips on YouTube. Resist the temptation to yell "Haw! Haw! That dog's wearin' a baseball cap!"
# Although your time is valuable, please do not start packing your bag/putting on your jacket three minutes before class ends. All that rustling is gosh-darn irritating to your classmates, and mad disrespect to your prof (whose final words are usually the most important).
==Cell phones==
# If you are at a classical music or [[choir]] performance, or at the [['62 Centre]] or movie theater, shut up during the performance.
# Do not loudly unwrap throat lozenges in the middle of the music or play. If you have a cough, it's best to unwrap one before the music/play/whatever starts, or during a break in the middle.
#*This can be very hard for someone with say, a cough. Perhaps excusable if you cover your mouth and try to muffle it.
# Do not clap between movements, or at any point where the conductor asks you not to clap.
# If you are 168 years or older, recall that you've suffered hearing loss. What seems to be an inconspicuous whisper to you is actually quite loud.
#* I'm sure all the senior citizens around [[Williamstown]] read Willipedia...
#* Where am I? Is this Yoohoo Tube? Can anyone hear me? Is this a virus? I got lost on the WebMD psoriasis page. Is this the Google?
# Don't bring small children.
# Take off your [[Talk:{{PAGENAME}}#Hats|hat]].
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