I'm standing at Thayer waiting to check blitz. This time the usually defunct blitz terminals are working. The keys are still greasy. I'm standing behind an '07, wearing one of those shirts that say his class year in size 1,032 font; the '07 continues to hack away. What gives? All I want to do is blitz a friend and spending seven minutes in line behind an '07 attempting to write a novel to his professor isn't my idea of common courtesy. I employ the rush tactics that I learned from my DOC trip leader freshman year: crowd the person and sigh la Al Gore. The '07 doesn't get the message and starts to open Internet Explorer, and then banner student, all this with now five people standing in line. I interrupt, "excuse me, do you think you could hurry up or at least not sign up for classes at Thayer?" He replied curtly, "it's a public computer; I can do whatever I want." Lovely. I guess you can't argue with the '07s. I'd like that student to take a crash course in Blitz Etiquette.
Rule 1: Highly-used blitz-terminals should only be used for blitz. That means when you're at Thayer, first floor Collis, or at the Hop, only use the computers for blitz. Only in the most demanding cases should you even think about surfing the net. Hell, I want to check ESPN every once in a while, but I don't run to Thayer to get the box score. The better solution is to blitz a friend and ask them for a score; wait ten seconds -- no response, sign off. Don't use these computers for Word either. Some of these computers don't have MS Office, but sometimes you'll find someone reading an Econ problem set, or opening up Excel to view a graph. When using these blitz mail terminals, think of the law of the commons. We all share these dinosaur-like computers; show a little respect by keeping it to basic blitz.
Rule 2: Self-Monitor. This one is a biggie. Some people spend more time on a blitz terminal than I do on my op-eds (and boy these things take ages, trust me). Blitz Etiquette allows you to sign onto blitz, check any new blitzes. Any blitz that has a little black or blue circle next to it -- go ahead and check. But don't respond to every one. Writing takes up too much time, so pick the blitzes that matter the most. Are you waiting for your friend at Collis? Are you briefly inviting someone to a party? Are you just saying hello to someone? These things are fine, but when you get into emails with professors, long diatribes, or when you start to send a million short blitzes -- I suggest you turn around. Self-monitor: are you irking the cue that has formed behind you? Too often people don't acknowledge that there is a line behind them. They stare ahead in a daze, oblivious to the fact that more people need to check blitz. That's probably one reason why Collis removed the chairs in front of the blitz terminals. People were getting comfortable -- quaffing a smoothie and reading news bulletins on blitz. Good riddance.
Rule 3: Don't read other people's blitzes. If you're fortunate enough to find a free blitz terminal, you should be thankful. Then say someone joins you at the blitz terminal adjacent to yours. Swivel your head to see if you know the person. But Blitz Etiquette also means you don't read what the other person is reading or writing. I've had a few dotards fixate on my blitzes. Once I turned to the person and asked, "May I help you?" That worked better than Mylanta after a trip to EBA's. Try typing (when you're sure the other person is reading) the words "why are you reading my blitz?" Subtle, (maybe not so subtle), its an innovative way to get the message across. It's pretty easy. Three simple rules on Blitz Etiquette -- follow them, live by them, blitz by them.
