This is a very short, annotated list of very good things that people often forget about:
Blinkers: Those things that some cars have that allow the diver to signal his intention to turn, change lanes, etc., to other drivers. My wife often comments on how odd it is that people will buy such nice cars (Mercedes, Lexus, BMW) that look brand new but apparently have not been equipped with the technological advance known as the blinker. Whenever possible, I would advise a prospective car buyer to choose the blinker option over the GPS option or the HDTV option.
Yield signs: Those white, red, and black upside-down triangles (not to be confused with the similarly-colored octagonal STOP signs) that tell drivers to allow faster traffic (often exiting from the highway) to go in front of them.
Grammar and punctuation: While non-English majors may find themselves unable to remember the difference between a comma and an apostrophe or a colon and a semicolon, much less when to use a dependent clause instead of an independent clause, it makes reading everything from e-mails to flyers a lot easier if punctuation and grammar are used correctly.
For instance, I’m sure every male on campus knows, and hopefully most of the females do not know, that the men’s rest rooms all across SMU are now equipped with waterless urinals. Signs accompanying these urinals read something to this effect, “Please do not put trash or pour liquid down these urinals as this will cause problems with their functionality and we appreciate your help in helping us to be environmentally friendly.” I have noticed that some conscientious person has taken it upon himself to use a red pen to edit at least some of these signs.
Vibrate/silent mode: Yes, it is possible to set your cell phone so that it does not scream, “Man, I Feel like a Woman” every time your boyfriend calls while you’re in class.
Syllabi (in the words of an SMU professor, “For those of you from Midlothian, that’s the plural of syllabus.”): Also known as “those packs of papers professors hand out on the first day of class.” I’m impressed with how good a job most professors do in compiling these things. I’m usually the nerd who circles and underlines his syllabi and references them every time he opens up his class folders, but I goofed recently. I’m in a photography class, and, after I had completed an assignment and gotten to class to turn it in, I saw that someone else’s assignment included notes on how they took their pictures. Confused, I checked the syllabus. Oops. The one line pertaining to the assignment I didn’t read.
Napkins: Simply put, napkins are amazing. Paper towels, too. Kleenex can suffice. There is no telling how many square miles of napkins and paper towels I go through in a year. Napkins are probably the greatest invention of all time. Of course, when there’s not one handy, you can always use your shirt.
Facebook: Almost enough said. I do have one complaint about Facebook.. Although it is the Web site of Web sites, one feature has been changed with its somewhat recent renovation. In the good ole days of Facebook, when you were looking at your own profile, it said, “(This is you)” after your name. I miss that little reminder.
Matt Brumit as a junior humanities major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
