“You guys are boring.”
Twenty sets of eyes zero in on a professor as he explains the alleged anonymity of Boston College students.
“You sort of fall in line … like sheep.”
He went on.
“We joke that it’s a Catholic thing. Someone tells you to jump three feet, you jump three feet. You sort of follow the rules … You all dress the same!”
While our student body is visibly more homogenous than many larger schools with more international students and higher percentages of students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, this view of BC students is a bland overgeneralization.
In the winter of my freshman year, I started packing up to leave my public speaking class when a girl decided to speak quite openly on my choice of clothing.
“Is that a Canada Goose?”
“Um, no, it’s not.”
“Oh good! I don’t know if I could speak to you again if it were.”
Finding myself speechless—a rare occurrence—we walked out of the building, heads bent against the cold, while she muttered about how ridiculous it was that so many people on this campus owned the same jacket.
We went our separate ways, and I debated borrowing a Canada Goose coat from someone and wearing it to our next class just to see how she would react.
Would that have changed her understanding of my character or my personality? Why does owning a certain coat make you change your opinion of someone so radically?
It’s one thing to take issue with hyper consumerism or with harmful animal treatment in the making of a coat (I would have to look into how Canada’s geese are doing). But this classmate seemed to be annoyed mainly by the price tag on the jacket and its prominence on campus in spite of the, admittedly high, cost.
For reference, a Canada Goose winter parka costs between $1,000 to $2,000, with the bestselling Shelburne Parka Heritage at $1,775.
I think there are less expensive jackets that accomplish the same goal of protecting against cold weather and keeping the wearer insulated, but when it comes to cost-efficiency, you could make the same argument for almost anything.
I brought up this conversation to a friend, and he said he agreed with the girl—it’s nonsense to spend so much money on a piece of clothing. I reminded him that he drove a Range Rover in high school. He said, “Well that wasn’t my choice. My parents bought it many years ago.”
What is the difference between a Range Rover and a Toyota Corolla? They both get you from Point A to Point B. The difference lies in a higher level of comfort, smoothness, and luxury, in addition to the price that accompanies those features. My friend’s parents enjoy those features and can spend money to have them.
People choose to spend money on different things—some people find they have a little extra cash after payday and go get ice cream, some people can have holes in their shirt but prefer to get a new pair of shoes, and many others, unfortunately, can’t afford to make those choices at all.
It’s completely natural to marvel at the injustice of circumstance and to wish people didn’t spend so much money on a jacket, but it is another thing entirely to assume something about a person’s character or integrity based on a piece of clothing. Judging someone for having something can be almost as harmful as judging someone for not having it. This also calls into question whether something can be too cheap and the implications behind the quality of items. Do you judge a person for buying from SHEIN, a company with questionable ethical practices but very affordable prices?
There is more to a person than what you can see at first glance. We are all composed of a long personal history, compounded by a series of small choices made every day.
My professor’s comments made me want to point out the little differences in the way people express themselves and encourage people to dress however they want. But at the same time, I wanted to ask him to take a closer look at the people who may be dressed the same.
You know what’s boring? Intellectual cynicism. It’s as boring as it gets. Professors, instead of generalizing an entire student body, try to get to know your students. Take an interest in them and learn what makes them unique. Most of the people I have met at BC are incredibly well-rounded, interesting people.
At face value, the observation that a lot of people wear the same wide-leg jeans and black top on a Friday night is true! But to assume all the wearers are the same is deeply uninspiring. Let this be a reminder for students to be themselves and for professors to see their students as people they can positively influence and learn from. Not just … sheep.