Over the past year getting into the Center of Clayton has become quite a hassle. And I have heard many students attributing this difficulty to one of the center’s employees who sits by the door and requests to see IDs. However, is it right to blame this man, when in fact he is simply doing his job?

This is the typical scenario: A student, whether he or she is going to class, to workout, or to eat, enters the double doors. He attempts to walk by unnoticed, but then the dreadful “Excuse me” rings in his ears. He is asked to show his ID.

Now this is where the situation may take many different paths: The student may dig through his backpack, present the card, and continue towards his destination. Or the student reveals that he does not have his ID with him, which is where things may get ugly.

I have seen students without their IDs understandingly turn around and walk around to the front entrance of the Center, but then there are those who choose to argue. Some continue walking despite the man’s request; others attempt persuasion, but worst of all some curse, complain, and become hostile to the man who in turn may be hostile back.

I have heard students curse and complain about him when he tells them they must go through the front desk of the Center as opposed to the convenient entrance connecting to the school. I too have had this experience, grudgingly making the trek from Stuber Gym to the Center’s front entrance.

From my experience and what I have witnessed, the man is simply doing his job, yet students still believe they are in the right when they complain about him. It is not the man we should be complaining about, but the system.

What is the likelihood that a student coming through those doors in the middle of the day does not attend the high school? How often do you see Ladue, MICDs, or Burroughs students coming through those doors? Probably never.

If I am wearing a CHS shirt, with a CHS gym bag around my shoulder is it really necessary to question my school attendance? And in most cases I am not questioned. I have been to the Center so many times that the man knows me, even has conversations with me. This I found true with many other students who simply show kindness to a man enforcing the rules which he did not create. We may hate the rules, but we should not hate and complain about a man who is simply doing his job.