Friendly Days Should Last All Year
by: Anthony Wen
We've all heard the complaints. "Oh, Michigan people are so unfriendly Back from
where I'm from, everyone smiles and says, 'Howdy.'" "No one ever smiles or looks up"
Is this true? Are we here at the University of Michigan influencing people's notions about
other citizens of the state of Michigan? An out-of-state student once told me that she had
thought that most people in the state of Michigan were of the same attitudes and friendliness
as people at the U-M. I even have heard people opinion that most out-of-state students are
nice and most in-state students are unfriendly. Such generalizations are are inaccurate.
Recently, Project Smile, a new student group, organized the week-long Friendly
Days. Friendly Days was an attempt to raise consciousness about friendliness and
politeness on campus. Did it work? Both students and administrators took part; some
handed out free candy and food on the Diag while others tried to encourage people to smile
and brighten their demeanor. Motivational speakers spoke about the need to laugh more
and enjoy one's life. The whole idea was to promote interaction and bring "random acts of
kindness" to campus.
Frankly, this is pretty sad. I'm not saying that Friendly Days was a bad idea. In fact, I
think that it was a commendable attempt to change attitudes on campus. But are special
days in which we need to be asked to be friendly necessary? We should always be
relatively polite and friendly. My feeling is that most people at the U-M are but it's just that
they don't always show it.
I must admit that I sense a general level of unfriendliness or at least indifference on
campus. Over my past two years here at the U-M, I have seen both rude and polite actions. I
confess that I think it is peculiar to see the stranger who's walking towards me with a big
smile on his face. I always think my hair is sticking up or that I have a piece of broccoli
stuck between my teeth. It seldom occurs to me that maybe that person is just happy and is
showing it. I usually think, "Boy, that guy/girl must think I'm a dork or something; that's
why they've got that big grin on their face." Needless to say, this is not always true
(although my hair does tend to fly up when it gets windy and I have been called a dork).
As I write this, I am observing several "random acts of kindness" and it's not even
Friendly Days! The printer in this computer lab has jammed and the toner is low. Perfect
strangers are helping each other unjam the printer and refresh the toner. "Thank you's"
and "You're welcomes" are flying all over the place. This is not some isolated incident.
Everyday I see people holding doors open, picking up dropped items, and other courtesies.
Admittedly, people may not be as friendly to strangers as they are to our friends, but these
actions show they're not running around like rapid dogs looking to take a bite out of
someone's leg.
Many people don't always appreciate the wonderful campus on which they live or the
other people that live here. Granted, in the middle of a harsh Michigan winter (or spring as
the case may be), it's quite hard to be cheerful and happy, but it is possible. All it takes is a
little extra time to be polite and perhaps weÕll see that U-M and its students can be as
friendly as any place.