If a tornado were to tear its way through A.J.’s Café 1844 leaving dirty plates, open books, and old jackets all over, it would hardly look any different from how it does on a typical evening. Why? Because Hillsdale students have grown so comfortable with the crime-free environment that they confidently leave their personal belongings and A.J.’s trash all over booths, “reserving” them for later.
If there were an individual booth for each student at Hillsdale, the tendency to abandon personal items in the booths would cause no issues, because every student’s booth needs would be met. But unless the school or a generous donor chooses to embark on that development, students must constantly combat each other for the precious booths A.J.’s offers.
Meanwhile, renowned CCA speakers and visitors must wait for their A.J.’s meal without a seat, undoubtedly questioning why the chairs and tables are so full of items, but empty of students.
A.J.’s should inspire new friendships and promote bonding over food, but books are not able to make friends with each other. They sit in silence, waiting patiently for their delinquent owner to return.
Often, the owners of these items do not return to A.J.’s prepared for a night of studying and hard work, but rather slyly slide their backpacks over their arms and scurry out, ignoring the herd of students fighting to pounce on the empty booth.
Students may believe that the honor code allows for such behavior. While it may be true that a student who signs a piece of paper agreeing to be “honorable in conduct, honest and word and deed, and dutiful in study and service” will most likely not steal a wallet left alone for 15 minutes, they may overlook the rest of the phrase about being “respectful of the rights of others.”
Those of us who have studied American Heritage know that defining “rights” may take longer than the 700 words I am limited to in writing this, but I hope that most Hillsdale students acknowledge the rights of a human to enjoy a booth to be above the rights of an item to enjoy that same booth.
Even if students do deny my right to enjoy an A.J.’s booth, they harm themselves by forsaking their belongings for hours upon end. Particularly in the coldest months, students do not enjoy trekking up the hill towards the union, and may choose to ignore their books for an even longer time than they anticipate, rendering it impossible to read that Constitution reader.
Additionally, the winter sidewalks are frequently caked with ice, resulting in dire conditions preventing students from returning to their belongings. Security even warns about walking in these conditions, claiming, “The snow often hides small spots of ice, which can be treacherous.”
Many students also lose or misplace their items after deserting them at A.J.’s. A recent SAB email noted that one student’s laptop has been in the lost and found for two weeks.
Perhaps at Hillsdale, that laptop will be just as safe in the union as in a locked dorm room, but graduates must quickly negate this habit after college, where even leaving a wallet on a chair for a few moments may be dangerous.
Some students have thought ahead: Rather than discarding laptops and keys in the booths, they leave the much less valuable leaves of paper, gum wrappers, and old shirts on the booth instead. Unfortunately, students who continue in this way after college may face littering fines of several thousand dollars instead.
There is simply no room for such disrespectful conduct at Hillsdale, a school whose motto is to “develop the minds and improve the hearts” of its students.
The solution is easy: Don’t leave garbage and book bags lying all over the tables, and you’ll never have to hide your guilty blush while reading this article again.
