Miami Student

Issue date: 11/23/04 Section: OpEd Page

"Okay. Don't make eye contact with them, walk fast and I'm home free. Here we go. Okay, it's going good. They're looking at the girl over there - oh no, they saw me. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry! Run, damnit run!" Welcome to the inner monologue of a person trying to dodge the people who pass out fliers, or the word of God, at the HUB corner at the Shriver Center.But in essence, aren't we all just like those poor souls out there, doing their job as a passionate student, as an active citizen, or as someone who was actually dumb enough to sign up to do it? Do we not all possess that inner sense of fervor to enlighten the masses and promote our causes? Survey says, hell no. Except, this is not where the problem lies, but instead, it rests solely on the bastards and bastardettes who avoid these people who are just trying to make a difference. One of my first negative experiences as a student at Miami was visiting Shriver and being bombarded by flier people, and the dude who told me I was going to hell. Aside from having already known my post-death destination, I was shocked and appalled by the gargantuan barrage of info hurtled in my direction. After the initial experience, I became one of those people who would march with their eyes focused on the ground, so that they would avoid having to take a flier, or talk to someone. As a first-year, I swore up and down that I would never be one of those people on that corner, badgering people as they came and went on their business. I promised myself that I would not be a heckler of complete strangers. Yeah, well, that promise was recently dashed, just like those others I'd made over the years: abstinence, dieting, cheating, working out, and quitting smoking. I finally succumbed to the situation and answered the daunting call of handing out fliers on the corner, and I must say, I am a better person for it. I can say this, not because I had a good time, or I felt like I spread pertinent information concerning my organization, but simply because I can sleep better at night now, knowing that I did my part in making hundreds of people feel really uncomfortable and awkward by simply walking past me. Unless you have actually done this before, you would not understand. Holding those little leaflets of paper transform you into God and Satan at the same time. As you stand there, the people you are trying to reach with your words, walk by nearly at a jog, with their heads hung and their eyes fixed on the ground. One girl resembled a fullback coming through the line on a trap play. I was afraid to get in her way to give her a flier in fear she might pummel me. Others will go as far as to walk out of their way, just to avoid you. However, nothing is worse than those who will simply say, "No," and walk on. But in retrospect, like Adam and Eve, some cannot help but look and once they do, you have them hooked. My point is that the people handing out fliers, or even the guy who tells everyone that they're going to hell, are not the problem. The people who take the fliers willingly and even those who get caught by the people and take fliers out of guilt are not the problem either. The true problem is those people who refuse to acknowledge the flier people and those who simply say, "No." I don't see what the big deal is. Take the friggin' piece of paper. Read it, don't read, who cares? Just be polite, take a flier, and go about your business. Despite how much it sucks, the situation only worsens when people shy away from you like you have the plague. So, next time you see these people, find that chunk of muscle in your chest (for some, it's buried in a block of ice. In this case, thaw it out), be nice, take a flier and stop treating these people like lepers.

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