Feedback requested

A few days ago, I heard one person tell her male friend, “Those jeans are real tight.” He paused for a noticeable amount of time. How was he supposed to respond? “Are you calling me fat?” or “It’s lucky my girlfriend and I wear just about the same size!” He seemed surprised by this negativity. He apparently hadn’t previously received any criticisms about his legwear, leaving him unaware of his bad situation.

Society thrives on both solicited and unsolicited feedback. Monsieur 26x34 might think twice before he puts on those pants and wears them in public again, most likely due to the negative reaction he received. To affirm his status in society as winning, he will probably go to the jeans store and buy a new pair, but only after the saleswoman gives some obligatory positive comments. In the morning, he’ll put on those jeans and feel like he’s radically winning before his first cup of coffee.

In academics, students have wondered aloud why they often turn in two weekly assignments, such as lab reports, before the first one is graded. If, in one week, a student incorrectly measures his yield as a seven-gram rock, he will probably do it improperly again the next week. Thus, he will be deducted points twice for the same mistake. Most students don’t care because lab grades are not very important: Your face will not melt off, and your children will not weep over your exploded body. After receiving graded assignments, students will see their mistakes and complain to the TA because their only goal is to get an A.

Perhaps there might be a disconnect between students and professors because professors’ expertise in a subject is not always compatible with students’ introductory knowledge. Students fail to realize teachers are abnormal in that they have tiger’s blood and Adonis DNA running through their veins. Ratemyprofessor.com is the great feedback-based equalizer that helps students overcome this biological inferiority. Recently, I was digging through a trash heap behind the French Family Science Center and found an old story that indirectly criticized students for using this website. They ostensibly used it to decide which teacher had the boogers of a 7-year-old. The results were that 300 students were registered in one section of organic chemistry and 50 in the other section. Clearly, opinions are powerful tools to students and professors alike.

Feedback can be well applied to romantic relationships as well. Males, however, usually need more advice than females. My mother said to my squirrelfriend, “It doesn’t matter if you love him, or capital H-I-M, just put your paws up and tell him when he does anything stupid.” I told her, “Males are oblivious to their surroundings 83.2 percent of the time, but baby, we are born this way.” Even my friends who are dating multiple floozies say that the key to a successful relationship is always being mindful of everybody’s wishes. Open conversation is the key to figuring out these desires.

For more public activities, like campus events, criticism from the public is even more vital. The LDOC committee didn’t sit idly by while Jay Sean didn’t win and think, “According to our survey, less than 0 percent of students enjoyed him. We should get another British collaborator who only ‘sings’ two to three well known songs...TAIO CRUZ FOR LDOC!” They have learned that marriages between crappy artists and LDOC are failures. In the past two years, they are zero for two with that marriage; they’re not going zero for three. The members of the LDOC committee are not going to wear golden sombreros because they actually used the feedback they requested to compile a winning lineup.

I see thousands of those business reply mail envelopes in the trash and cringe because those enclosures have a single purpose: returning important information about service back to companies so they can address shortcomings. Businesses want to know what they’re doing wrong, so not replying is like talking about them behind their back; thus breaking down the comment-response system.

So next time something really grinds your gears, go ahead and give some feedback about it. Aside from perhaps the common static on microphones, feedback is helpful to at least one party involved. It helps people and businesses improve themselves. It is rare that people are actually the best at what they do. Sorry, Middle America.