“They are not your maids!” I wish I could yell this at the next

student I see who leaves his or her plate on a table in the

cafeteria.

“They are not your maids!” I wish I could yell this at the next student I see who leaves his or her plate on a table in the cafeteria. After breakfast, lunch and dinner, there are always plates and cups left on the tables. Some students leave their trash and dirty utensils behind expecting the cafeteria workers to clean up after them.

Some students even go as far to say, “Well that’s their job to clean up after us.” That is one of the most ignorant and selfish statements a person could say. It disgusts me that some students really have this mentality.

I wonder what makes these students think that kind of behavior is okay. I am sure that this would be unacceptable in their homes and I can almost guarantee that their parents would be disappointed in their actions here on campus.

What is so hard about bringing up your dishes and trash to the conveyor belt? Is the walk there really that far? Or do you just have no respect for the people who work there?

These workers are just trying to earn an honest living. They do not deserve added work just because certain students are too lazy to pick up after themselves.

Imagine if your grandmother worked in the cafe. On top of the work she has already, she would be the one who had to clean up all those tables and bring up all the left behind garbage and dishes after each meal period. I know if that was my grandmother I would be upset.

Let us go further with this: imagine if that was your job. You have been at work all day and the dinner wave is finally over. All you see is an empty cafe with garbage and dishes all over the tables. Just imagine the frustration you would feel now that you have to bring up all the dishes on top of already having to clean the cafe. I bet you would consider that unfair.

Not only do you have to be accountable for yourself but students should be accountable for one another. It bothers me that people do not hold their friends accountable. I know if my friends and I were leaving and I saw something on the table I would stop and ask whose it was. It is that simple. If people called their friends out about trash and dishes then they would be more inclined to bring it up to the conveyor belt.

This kind of disgusting behavior is not just in the cafe either. I can find trash left behind on tables in the union, trash left in dormitory stairwells, and paper towels left all over the floors in public bathrooms. We have a beautiful campus, why are students trying to ruin that?

One of the most agitating things is to see students leaving garbage bags outside of small trash cans because they are too lazy to walk to the dumpsters. Not only does this make our campus look bad, but also unfair to the workers who have to clean up that extra trash.

They already have to travel around the entire campus to get the trash, but now they have to go out of their way to get the bags left outside by students.

We should all have a certain respect for everyone on this campus that works hard to keep our campus clean and functional. All that I ask is for students to do their part. Just clean up after yourself; it is not that hard.

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• Michele Delgado, Contributor