No Blood, No Fallon: Note-craving 'people' major peeves

I have a pet peeve. And, it's a peeve that I'm sure you will share with me. That is unless you are one of those "people."

I'm not sure about your e-mail box, but mine is cluttered almost daily with a note that reads as follows: "Hi. I was sick on Tuesday and I wasn't able to make it to class last week and I wondered if someone could e-mail me their notes."

First and foremost, you missed class, get over it.

Secondly, if anyone thinks that for a minute that I'm your little note-daddy and I'll more than willingly hand over my notes to you, you got another thing coming.

Maybe I should get you a photo copy of some notes on independence and how to live life on your own.

Instead, maybe I should reply to the e-mail and say, "You know, I'm not sure if my notes are complete either, when you get done being a leach on your classmates maybe you could send them to me too."

And then, after I get them, I can send them to everyone else in the class and we can just have a note sharing orgy and the class can become and interactive learning environment.

Also, maybe we could talk the professor into letting us help each other on the tests. But before the test, maybe I can come over to your place and I can read your book to you to make sure you don't miss anything.

Look, I understand what these "people" are asking for isn't really that much. But the bottom line is once you comply with one request of note sharing you'll be hooked. Before you know it, you'll be the dweeb in the front of the class asking questions every three minutes and hosting study sessions in your free time.

When I open the ol' e-mail box and I see the phrase "(from gradebook)" in the subject line I usually delete it without opening it. Not because I'm apathetic, just because I'm sick and tired of people asking me for my notes. It is a bad habit to have too - deleting that is. I mean what if a professor writes to tell us that class is canceled on Wednesday, I might miss it.

However, I guarantee it would only be a number of days, maybe hours, until I received an e-mail from a classmate asking for the notes from Wednesday because "something personal came up."

What exactly does the phrase "something personal came up" mean?

First of all, if it's that personal, most professors would be happy to deal with you directly. So, since you are coming to classmates for help instead of the professor, it's blatantly obvious that the only personal problem you have is skipping class and regretting it later.

The bottom line is simple. If you want notes, if you want to stay on top of your education, then go to class. If you know ahead of time you won't be there then get a friend to take notes for you. But for the love of God, have a higher self-worth than stooping to asking a lecture class of 283 students for notes. To me, it's shameful.

Most importantly, quit filling the mailboxes of people who make it through college on their own. I, along with the other hard workers of Ball State, see it as a nuisance. If you don't, you just must be one of those "people."