Antisocial tendencies prevalent

By Preet Anand

I challenge you to randomly wave to 40 people you don't know over the next week, and I bet you won't get an overwhelming amount of waves in return.

Whether female or male, they don't trust you, so they won't interact with you or your greeting. This experiment yields a higher return if tested on a classmate -- they typically will spare some politeness -- but there are no guarantees.

How come we're so afraid to recognize each other? Are girls too caught up in the battle for visual supremacy that they can't take notice of uninvolved beings? Even though some of us may desperately need a haircut to uncover our face, I think it's deeper than that.

The fear of men's sexual greed has caused unease. But why should the majority of us suffer the icy attitude for the crimes of others? Even if I wore a shirt that said, "I have a girlfriend and I don't want you in my bed," my wave wouldn't be returned by a simple hello.

Is it the girl's fault for being prissy and indifferent? Don't forget who fueled this -- the men. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals should produce a pill that stops sperm or elevated testosterone production for 24 hours. Imagine how different we would think. Men think of sex every two seconds; our always-churning manhood has driven our lasting actions. Though we have the ability to resist temptation, we can't always help ourselves. Most boys above age 13 set a mental New Year's resolution to have sex. This is why girls don't trust us -- they know what we desire.

But when night comes around, things change. Girls' inhibitions come loose and, with alcohol as the fuel, they'll say hello to everyone they might know.

The guys wisen up as well. Their flirting is suddenly subdued. Polite as your grandma at Thanksgiving dinner, men chat away patiently. However, if you had an X-ray you could see the words "hook-up" branded in their skulls. Under the façade of a knight in shining armor, we walk girls to their door with dazzling chivalry.

Because of this system, the next day there is even less trust in the air and it continues to accumulate. That is, of course, until the weekend rolls around. Let the drinks fly, play some beer pong, and everyone likes each other again.

But when we hit the busy week of school, we seclude ourselves further from those we haven't recognized. We don't trust people enough to even greet them.

For some reason, we're so scared of the person next to us that nice people are misjudged and mislabeled. We all know we've met a person we deem as "too nice." But this judgment doesn't fly. We might as well say Jessica Alba is a freak because she's too hot.

Set your inhibitions and pride aside and throw a wave to several fellow Santa Clarans this week.

Preet Anand is an undeclared freshman.