After my workout this morning, I popped into Commons to have breakfast. Normally, this is not something I would write about. As evidence, I don't think I've ever posted anything about this aspect of my routine before. But what I witnessed this morning was so strange, so out-of-the-ordinary and so remarkable, I had to write about it. For, when I entered the dining room this morning at around 9:30 AM, all the tables were clean. I'm sure to some this does not seem remarkable or particularly noteworthy. But to me it was a small miracle.

Because I don't like to eat breakfast at 6:45 or dinner at 4:30, I'm never in Commons just after they open, when everything is spotless. So I usually find myself sitting at a table that is, to one degree or another, covered with the remnants of someone else's meal. As something of a clean-freak, this always makes me uncomfortable. I like to eat on clean surfaces.

Until this morning, I never really understood this phenomenon. My fellow students may not know as math as much as I think they should, or share my opinion that pajamas should not be worn in public. But they are definitely not lazy or unconcerned for the welfare of others. When I read stories about people collecting the lids of yogurt containers to help children in need, I usually feel a twinge of guilt for sitting at my desk and trying to understand the Khun-Tucker Theorem instead of raising money to dig wells in Cambodia.

This morning, though, I concluded that some people must be sloppy and lazy. For this weekend is parents' weekend, when parents from all over New England come to see a highly-stylized version of their son's or daughter's college experience. And with parents everywhere — parents who admonish their children for eating like dinosaurs and leaving half-eaten sandwiches splayed on the table — there was hardly a stray crumb to be found. I'm sure the lazy mess-makers fit into a Pareto distribution (so about 20% of the people make about 80% of the mess), but it's nevertheless disheartening. Not to mention, I'd bet money the 80% of us who don't leave partially eaten slices of pizza behind would be much less uncomfortable, or at least less like to contract a nasty virus.