Demands. Schedules. They come in all varieties and they impose themselves on you when you are least inclined for them to do so.

I have to get to Cordiner since apparently convocation is in 15 minutes.

I have to get to the Beta house as initiation “may” be starting.

I have to go do team-building exercises on a weekend.

Whatever the case, I would turn to the nearest person, and, in as vulgar a manner as possible, provide several reasons why I shouldn’t have to go to wherever I’m going. I would go on to elaborate that there would be no way for anyone to even know I’m not there. Then, in dramatic fashion, I would go anyway.

Orientations. Initiations. How many of these kinds of things have we all endured in our lifetimes? They’re those vacuous spaces of time that could so easily be spent partying, wasted in many cases on the same activities that you’ve endured time and time again.

But what is the purpose of all this nonsense? Why is there such a need for a scripted opening to anything institutionalized? Why the hell did I walk around Ankeny blindfolded one of my first nights here?

These questions came to me my first week here as I, being the type of person I am, wanted more time to interact organically with my peers, i.e. party time. I recently returned to these questions and found an interesting thread running through all of the events that comprised my opening week here, my orientation in high school and any other orientation I had ever had to endure: I bitch about everything.

This at first seems like an idiotic conclusion but when I gave it thought some meaning seemed to surface. I remember before convocation a group of students were playing a roughly 30-second tune outside Cordiner over and over again. This bothered me and made my ears want to bleed. Needless to say those around me also shared my sentiment and, despite the administration’s best efforts, we bonded over our mutual frustration.

This is not to say that everything we do during orientation, opening week and the like is boring or useless. In fact, I had a great time during opening week and initiation as well. But, just having to do anything by a strict schedule can lend an air of unpleasantness to the most enjoyable activities and this is what I complained about with my peers.

So how could it be that a program meant to bond people with fun activities could sometimes bore you to tears yet still achieve its goal? Simple, by having people commiserate with each other in their suffering and in their joy. The sheer reality of herding a bunch of people into a situation they can’t get out of demands camaraderie.

Mutual boredom is still something mutual. Bitching about things may accomplish nothing, but at the very least it gives people something to talk about.

Do people need to have a negative attitude towards these kinds of things for them to be successful? I don’t think so, but I feel as though the only way to enjoy everything somebody schedules out for you is to have boundless energy and enthusiasm, traits I have never possessed. Instead, we can take the good from the bad and engage in the time-honored tradition of bitching for the very sake of having something to talk about.