Tomorrow is "College Break", according to our academic calendar here, but the one Monday winter quarter that UChicago undergrads have off is known by all, faculty and students alike, as Suicide Prevention Day. No fewer than two of my professors have specifically instructed their students not to kill themselves on Monday. Most, myself included, seem amused by the idea that, rather than just having no class as a midterms reading period, or as a mid-quarter vacation, we have time off specifically so that we don't completely lose it. Not to make light of suicide, but I can't imagine anyone suicidal would suddenly remember that class is cancelled Monday of 6th week, and all of a sudden find that his problems had vanished.
What's odd, though, is that we do have class on MLK Day, which would be an obvious winter-quarter Monday to have off, and which would be a break with more uplifting connotations. Perhaps the reason for Suicide Prevention Day has nothing to do with suicide (rates here aren't especially high, despite the rumors) but with the, ahem, grad-undergrad divide; if undergrads had off for MLK Day, so would grad students, while a special (well, bizarre) undergraduate break day can reasonably be given without cancelling grad classes. And we all know that grad students have important things to get done, whereas undergrads need a day off to buy new North Face fleeces.
My own plans for SPD include a trip to the post office (presumably Suicide Prevention Day is not a federal holiday), going to work (as far as I know, undergrad jobs go on as scheduled), and at last returning to Whole Foods. I broke down and went to the horrible horrible Co-op supermarket, thinking, how bad could Gruyere there be? And then a small taste when I got back revealed that it had that strong refrigerator flavor of all Co-op-bought cheeses, reminding me in a very Proustian way of distant memories, memories of cheeses I'd purchased there in past years only to throw out soon after. Whole Foods, and far-too-expensive Appenzeller, here I come.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Happy Erev Suicide Prevention Day
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1 comment:
OMG, I had no idea there was such a day...and great header on this post, BTW.
I guess the focus should be more on friends noticing pre-suicidal behavior in their other friends, and intervening on their behalf...
And it's worth noting that there are some anti-establishment types who might off themselves just to prove a point to those teachers who instructed them to stay alive. Or perhaps my memory of college is a little different.
Again, not to make light of suicide. Because it's not funny.
And again, your header is.
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