Our insurance provider thought it would be good to have an ergonomist do his thing in the dining and dish rooms. Ergonomists study patterns of human behavior and assess traffic flows, efficiency and safety. So this gentleman came and hung out in the dishroom during lunch. No one asked him to critique the community's sense of well-being, but--long before he mumbled that we were nice and safe, and departed--he began observing the quiet, good-humored efficiency of the dish crew. He became even more outspoken regarding the supportive ethos he sensed at Proctor, remarking that "about 80%" of the people passing through the dish line thanked the dish crew. In all his years of ergonometry, he had never seen anything like this before.

Why was this so, at this particular place, he wondered. Was it because we have a new community center that rocks?

Maybe the tone on campus is shaped by daily assemblies at which it's cool to be real. Yesterday, Peer Outreach orchestrated an alcohol awareness demonstration. On Monday, forty-eight students donned T-shirts with a large X on the front, and "withdrew" from the community in silence. Then, in Tuesday's assembly, they appeared from behind the curtain, representing the 48 people who die in alcohol-related car accidents every day in the U.S. People whose lives have been touched by alcohol or alcoholism were invited to come forward and light a candle. The response was overwhelmingly powerful, and was executed in silence.

Maybe the gentility observed by our visiting ergonomist is simply self-perpetuated. Nothing more than people who have been thanked while serving, offering thanks to those who serve today. Or maybe people are just relieved that--after two years--the soft serve machine has finally been repaired.