We like to encourage some pretty weird thoughts about mythical beings in our culture. Christmas: a fat guy dressed in red who likes to break into our homes and eat all our cookies. Easter: a giant rabbit with some obvious genetic issues who is gigantic and lays candy-filled eggs. Losing a tooth: a creepy fairy who, because of some obsession with our pearly whites, steals them from under our pillow at night.

So, why can’t we have a cleaning fairy? I don’t think many enjoy scrubbing bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting or taking out the garbage. Maybe we should just hire another out-of-work fairy to come and do all the unpleasant work for us.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works. Someone has to do all that work. On campus, it’s the custodians.

Whenever those of us who live in the residence halls wake up and make our morning trip to the bathroom, we can appreciate clean showers, toilets and sinks, along with empty garbage cans, because of these service professionals.

That’s right, professionals. For many who work in Building Services and Maintenance, their career is to serve students and the university. More than other careers, this deserves a great deal of respect. In many residence halls, however, respect is the last thing they receive.

I live on a residence hall floor on which nearly everyone is a freshman. Most people can already assume a few things about what to expect from us. Perhaps the greatest thing is that we’re messy. In my experience, that’s an understatement.

I’ve seen and heard of some unpleasant stuff this year in my own residence hall and others. To list briefly: garbage littering the hallway and lounge when trash cans are a short walk away, muddy footprints tracked all the way up staircases and through carpeted hallways, trimmed facial hair lying all over sink and shelf rather than having been rinsed away, vomit in sinks and un-flushed toilets, toilets intentionally left un-flushed and plugged, previously mentioned toilets overflowing and depositing – well, you know what – all over the floor, blood in various locations, etc.

Now, I ask you, would you really want to clean any of that up, even if you were paid for it? That’s exactly what custodians in residence halls are being forced to deal with, and I believe anyone with a reasonable amount of decency would agree that this is not what they should have to do.

I would ask my classmates to grow up and show a speck of maturity. I don’t care if you’re drunk or not, these behaviors should be unacceptable. Even if you are “just” a freshman, you are nearly 20, and a young adult should have the maturity to match their age. Some messes may be unavoidable, but it is certainly not difficult to flush a toilet or rinse hair down the sink.

Even more than this basic respect, remember that these employees are human beings. They would like to see a smile and a hello. Possibly, you could even have a conversation with one of them.

Remember that just as the tooth fairy doesn’t exist – sorry to break it to you – neither does a “cleaning fairy.” Rather, people in the business of service, and many with college degrees, are cleaning up after you. We should make that as easy as possible for them.