It seems like everybody has something to complain about when it comes to Pomona. In the midst of all that complaining, however, there are usually not many people appreciating how incredibly pampered we are here, and that’s why I want to praise some of the Pomona staff that doesn’t usually get much thanks.

For starters, the Housekeeping Department here at Pomona is especially amazing. Never having had a bathroom in my own room before, I was incredulous that it would be cleaned for me every week. Don’t get me wrong, I am quite the opposite of a neat freak, and I am sure my roommate would not be happy if keeping the bathroom clean fell on my shoulders. Even so, I still feel pretty guilty that when the wonderful person from Housekeeping comes in; I’m usually still lounging around in bed.

Because I realize that cleaning student bathrooms isn’t the most satisfying job, I usually try to make a conscious effort to keep things clean. After last week, when my bathroom was cleaned to the point where it was pristine and looked even better than it did when I arrived here, I decided to really make an effort to thank them and, in the future, make their jobs easier. So now, after a particularly messy party in my room, I try to clean everything up myself. I assume that most other people feel the same, and hopefully the Housekeeping staff knows that we really appreciate them.

Sadly not everyone is so conscientious. In my underclassmen years, there were way too many times when a mysterious person threw up on a weekend and didn’t clean up. Granted, when you’re drunk to the point of vomiting, taking responsibility and cleaning up for yourself are probably not your major concerns, it’s hard to believe that anyone would have the nerve to just leave their mess there until it’s time for that bathroom to be cleaned. Without exception, cleaning up somebody’s vomit is always gross. It’s an insult to leave that for Housekeeping to do, when we’re lucky that they don’t just give us toilet paper and leave us in charge of cleaning up for ourselves.

Campus Safety officers are another group that gets a lot of negative reactions from students. We all know what it’s like dealing with our drunken friends when they act like idiots. Now, imagine if that was all you did on Friday and Saturday nights. How much money would someone have to pay you in order to do that? Probably more than these officers are getting paid.

I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve seen drunk, belligerent students harassing Campus Safety officers who are trying to do their jobs. A few Saturday nights ago, there was a rowdy crowd outside my window. These guys were apparently upset at Campus Safety’s request that they turn off their ridiculously loud music and stop drinking and yelling in the courtyard. After all, it was only 3 a.m. Instead, they proceeded to yell obscenities at the officers.

We have free alcohol available almost every night, and the few rules we have aren’t even enforced all the time. Even if having a little respect for people who put up with a lot of crap from us isn’t enough of a reason for us to be nice, maybe we should do it in return for our lenient alcohol policy.

Considering the job market these days, we’ll be lucky to have a place of our own after we’ve graduated. Now that we’re here, living in what is really a gorgeous place, where we have people who cook and clean for us, we should take a moment to stop and appreciate all the nice people that make our life a little bit easier and who do it cheerfully. From the dining hall workers who swipe our cards to the servers who give us our beer every night, they deserve our thanks.