Breaking a Social Norm

I had the most difficult time figuring out what social norm to break for this week's blog. Luckily, I didn't have to brainstorm for too long because opportunity knocked at my door.

My friends and I went to a Halloween-themed dessert-tasting event hosted by one of the dorms on campus. Since my roommate had been pulling an all-nighter for an exam, I was charged with bringing back some of the cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. that were being offered at the event.

After having our fill of sweets, we decided to head to Wilson gym to grab some smoothies at Quencher's and I was charged with holding a plate full of sweets. Bringing in dessert to the gym was definitely a first for me. There's an obvious discrepancy when someone brings dessert into the gym where the goal is to attain good physical health and perhaps run off the guilty calories from the raspberry cheesecake one had for dinner. Nevertheless, I walked in with an assortment of brownies, cookies, and cupcakes.

At first I didn't think much of it, but when both my friends refused to take on the task, I became somewhat self-conscious of doing so. When we walked up to the front desk, the person in charge of swiping our cards laughed and asked if the cupcake was for him.

After that, I didn't think much of it because if I didn't hurt anyone by breaking the social norm and if anything, bringing dessert into the gym helped brighten someone's day a little.



-Alice Huang