Emily Bernhardt   Patrick Bromly, introduced in the Roman Radish as the “good morning guy,” stands in front of the doorway to our upper school each school day, greeting students and teachers alike and providing gentle but stern reminders to “badge in.” He has become a regular, consistent person in our lives, so how could it be possible to forget about him? On a Monday morning, accompanied by a couple of friends, I sat near the entrance of the upper school and counted students who said hi in response to Patrick Bromly. Roughly 39% of the students that I observed did not acknowledge Patrick, while only 61% did. Lori Der Sahakian was “surprised” after seeing these numbers in action. She originally assumed that the general average would be higher and stated that those who didn’t say hi in the mornings “came off as disrespectful.” Although this may be the case for a few, there are many other factors that may play into these percentages. For example, the fact that I observed these results on a Monday morning could contribute to 39%, because, let’s face it, none of us are feeling friendly before 8 a.m. at the beginning of the school week, especially when it’s under thirty degrees. While walking into school, some students wear earbuds, talk to their friends, or are distracted by their phones, so they could have simply not heard Patrick. Errors in the percentages could be attributed to my abilities as well, because when crowds of students all walk in together, it becomes difficult to accurately count and hear each of their individual reactions. Pure rudeness or laziness is not the only reason behind the 39% of students who do not wish Patrick a good morning, but unfortunately, it could be one of them. So how does Patrick feel about this? We’ve all had moments where we say hi to someone and, for whatever reason, they don’t reply. These instances can be embarrassing or frustrating, but, for Patrick, they occur every weekday morning. But this doesn’t seem to bother Patrick at all. He explains that, “I just let it go, because it’s my job.” He also guesses that “about 70-80%” of students say hi to him in the mornings,” a significantly higher percentage than what I recorded. This either implies that my recordings were off (I observed on a bad day) or Patrick is just optimistic. Perhaps his optimism and his ability “not to care” is what makes Patrick so good at his job. However, just because Patrick has become accustomed to student’s impoliteness doesn’t make it acceptable. Though Patrick forgives students for not saying hi in the mornings, he does not fail to notice them. So, next time you walk into Latin, keep Patrick in mind. Let’s make sure that the “good morning guy” actually has a good morning.]]>