On Thursday, I was getting water before my class, and I ran into Jen.

Jen is a member of the Redifer Commons dining hall staff whom I see very regularly, and she is one of the nicest people I’ve met in my time at Penn State.

As I was checking out, Jen expressed her disappointment to me that students at the school don’t interact with her when she wishes them well on their way. It seemed that students were more caught up with their headphones than saying goodbye back to staff members.

My conversation with Jen confirmed something that I’ve noticed for a long time: The dining hall and residence hall staff at Penn State are severely underappreciated. As someone who has lived in the dorm halls for all four years of my college life, I have seen firsthand how disrespected these staff members are through the actions of the students and residents.

Whether it’s leaving hair in the sink of a public bathroom or leaving toilet paper everywhere, it’s truly astonishing what grown adults will leave for a staff member to pick up. Additionally, it is wild to see how little some students even acknowledge the existence of a dining hall staff member.

It’s basic human decency that when people say hi or bye to you, you should say something back. At times, I feel as if some students forget that the staff members aren’t just NPCs to do a service for the school, but they are people too.

Like everyone, the workers have bad days, too, and they don’t need their days to be worsened by a student who can’t take the two seconds it requires to greet them daily. I’m not saying you need to start a three-minute conversation, but give these staff members the basic respect they deserve. You never know what your words may do for a staff member who’s dealing with thousands of students regularly.

So, to all of my fellow students, take the headphones out and give more respect to the staff who work so hard to make your Penn State experience as easy as possible.