When James of Dansing Marketing, a fictitious phone polling company helping a local soda find its market base, called tens of Skyline High School students in hopes of earning a little cash, he felt the angst-filled silence of a hung-up telephone.
Alex Hanson, a social experimenter and proprietor of The Plateau Times, spent several evening hours on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 calling his peers about a opportunity to win a free case of soda for answering ten to fifteen questions regarding the product. Of the twenty-four people he called, only one agreed to take the survey. Of the remaining twenty-three, the majority politely declined, but some retained an ugly quality in the way the phone proceedings.
Surprisingly, the majority of those who were genuinely polite on the phone were the ones most people, especially those who read this website, were the “jocks” and “preps”.
When asked of the most courteous call recipients, Alex, who was unable to record the calls due to legal ramifications said, “student athletes at Skyline have been among the people most willing to look beyond the stereotypes and judge a person by their merits.”
At one point, Alex attempted to stay on the line as long as possible, offering greater prizes and increasing the frequency of questions. Among those to stay on the line was Tony Beattie, who continually expressed a remorse in having to hang up the phone, despite being bombarded on by Hanson.
But among the nicest of people to answer the phone was none other than Ryan Somers, which Hanson says referred to him as “sir” for the entirety of the call. Although he chose to not participate in the survey, he was more than willing to treat him as a human being, a novelty others passed on.
Others were not so pleased by the telemarketing, including some who were so unwilling to treat Hanson with respect that they either simply hung up in his first sentence or handed the phone to their parent, which led to call termination. More than half of these answerers, Hanson says, were of those he originally thought would have been of the nicest.
Jake Knecht, a man with “dumb jock written on his forehead,” was too quick to fall for the trap. He was aware of Hanson’s tone and caught him on the fact that telemarketers do not call cell phones.
In case you were wondering, the one willing to participate was Lauren Gould, who acted graciously throughout the call, even when the “supervisor” Rusty decided to terminate the call.
Still though, Hanson believes that this kind of an experiment, among others can help reverse the impersonal and egotistical attitude that many believe the popular have.
Comments
popular people in a school become popular by having many friends. Rude, abrasive personalities don’t get you that. The most impersonal person I know is on the bottom rung of popularity.
But don’t tell me that jocks and popular people are not egotistical and judgemental. As a member of the Board of Nerds, I can guaruntee you that none of our members have ever been invited to a party without responsible adult supervision. I can also tell you that very few people on the cheerleading squad would ever consider associating with, let alone befriending, one of our members. Now, of course, this is an extreme example, but still, the spin on your article is uncalled for.
I have spent my summer thus far coding a website by hand on my NetBSD system using the console-mode vim editor, taking extra care to adhere to XHTML and CSS standards as defined by the W3C. I mention this in case you needed proof of my nerdiness.
What I want people to know, in case they already don’t, is that the majority of the football players that I have associated with are darn nice guys. I know nothing about their football performance just as they know nothing about my computer skills. To consider yourself a part of the “Board of Nerds” just creates an “us versus them” mentality. And that’s not cool. These are our fellow classmates and I’m not going to discriminate against them for taking an interest in football any more than I would want them to discriminate against me for my computer hobby.
I haven’t hung out with them outside of school. I haven’t tried to date the cheerleading squad. But that point is moot since I only hang out with my core friends and haven’t been on a date in my life.
I met these people attending school, and while in school, they have been famously receptive toward my humor and oft-quirky behavior. I’m not cool, but their kindness shows that they certainly are.
But you see, the point is that both groups do exclude each other. We’re not rude to each other, be we definitely are judgmental. The current high school social system creates an environment of social exclusion. In other words, members of a certain group of people rarely affiliate beyond their tight knit group of friends. Sure, we’re affable enough to each other, but when it comes to actually becoming friends we fall short. Despite what you may say, the more popular people do act indifferently to others outside their social circle. Of course, this just causes resentment among the “board of nerds” furthering the gap between the groups. But most of the time, its more the flaws of the social system than the flaws of the people in it.
That being said, as a more intellectually focused person, it is frustrating to see the lack of respect and tangible rewards that the intellectually talented receive compared to the physically and socially talented. The football players get huge assemblies held in their honor, massive budgets for equipment, brand new fields every few years, high social position, great athletic scholarships, and teachers that seem to cater to their needs despite their boneheaded academic abilities. The intellectually talented seem to get nothing but screwed up class schedules and a pat on the back whenever we do anything of merit.
“Simone, Heaps, and Williams have already been given offers from several Division I schools, such as Washington, BYU, and UCLA respectively, among many others.”
An excerpt from the front page article of this page which really highlights the problem. I’ve worked my intellectual ass off, pulling all nighters, working weeks with less hours of sleep then I’ve had projects due, and literally writing a short book’s worth of essays to simply receive acceptance from such schools. Yet these athletes get better offers and scholarships from these intellectual institutions for their physical prowess. You know there is something wrong with the social system when the academically talented are getting beaten out on their own turf, the university.
I totally agree about Skyline (and generally most high schools) placing too large an emphasis on sports—both with attention and finances. I also agree that using sports to get into a university is unfair. Believe me, I have plenty of gripes on that subject.
But that’s also not the subject covered in this article. It’s also not a fair basis to discredit the efforts that many of the athletes have put into to both academics and their team. (I realize many athletes don’t have a care about academics, so don’t dwell on that statement.)
Maybe I don’t see things your way because I’m personally not judgmental toward the non-intellectual circles, and don’t expect them to be judgmental toward me. If you have in your mind a strong depiction of how the average jock behaves, or the average theatre kid, or the average computer nerd, you are really performing a disservice to the individual that you categorize. Some level of diversity exists within even the most tight-knit groups.
But I will acknowledge that some groups of Skyline don’t intermingle much with others. But it seems that because the athletes are socially exalted that the blame is placed upon them—that because they are seen as higher they need to make an active effort to pursue friendship with the lower ranks. I charge that the blame falls against all of us who fall into the trap that belonging to one group precludes association with another.
It is unfair to say that athletes do not care about academics. Many of them are less-interested in an education than the IB kids (though not all of them: note OL David Decastro from Bellevue who had a 3.9something GPA and got accepted to Stanford).
The system is not perfect, but just because you do not like sports doesn’t mean that you should discredit these players. Don’t even think of them as going to university, if they are not interested in academics, think of them playing football at a higher level. The schools want to earn money from academics, and if you are a good enough scholar you can get in as well.
These athletes have a talent, it is physical. You may have an academic talent, which is mental. These athletes are superior and they can get into many good schools, Kasen can get into UCLA because he is a phenomenal wide receiver. There are many other wide receivers, like those mentioned in the article, who won’t get the ability to go to UCLA. Alexa Burns, 2008 SHS Valedictorian is going to UCLA.. She has a talent (though she took advantage of the system) and she was able to get into UCLA, where some others, even some IB kids are not.
How do we know if we are speaking to the same anonymous?
If you have such passionate views on this issue, and believe that you are in the right, use your real name.
Your voice is fairly recognizable Alex. Did anyone recognize it was you? Because if I received a call like this and recognized the person, I think it would change how I react.
Well Jake Knect recognized me, and I ‘fessed up right after he did. Everyone else, to my knowledge, did not have a clue.
Lauren Gould—the target of my survey—was not sure if I was for real, but went along for laughs.
It wasn’t fool-proof by any stretch of the imagination, but from the responses Alex heard it didn’t seem as if they recognized him (plus it was my phonebook, not his).
I did not know the words “dumb jock” were printed upon my forehead
I don’t know. Bill quoted that statement, so maybe you should ask who originally said it.
Haha I think it was my lovely mother who came up with the statement. This is a great article Alex. I think it gives justice to the jock stereotypes that we have at our school, and I think it encourages people to be a little more excepting outside the high walls of friend comfort zones. Athletes don’t ask for all of the attention and assemblies that come with their sport. Not that those things are not fully appreciated, but the problem is people see that and not the love of the game most athletes play for.
Sweetheart….I certainly don’t think you’re a “dumb jock,” but if you want to be ACCepted by your smart friends rather than EXcepted…proof the text before pushing the submit button. :)
Love The Plateau Times!! You guys are doing a great job. Need more female writers though.