Student prejudice

Having savoured the rather sweet taste of student life for over a year and a half now, I've finally come to terms with the fact that there is a particularly discriminative mindset from local people, that seems to orientate its hate directly towards students.

My first experience of this came in Wetherspoons pub. Having finished my "Frilly Tutu" pitcher (a drink only real men can handle) I stumbled into the toilet and looked around for a spare urinal. I noticed a clear gap between two burly builders in high visibility jackets, that I just about managed to squeeze into. Now although this sounds like the deleted scenes from a George Michael music video, it soon became apparent that the pairs hatred for students was truly sincere.

Nudging my way in-between the two silver backs I tried my best to get to grips with what could only be described as a well earned slash.

"I take it you lot have been payed today haven't you?"

"Yeah, typical. No wonder were in a credit crunch."

Having never been stigmatized for any reason my entire life, and of course, being a coward, I took it upon myself to do the the gracious thing, and lie.

"Actually, I'm a plumber mate."

The situation diffused quickly with a swift apology, but it got me wondering...why do some Falmouth locals hate students?

There were 413,430 full time students recorded in the UK in 2007, with UCF accounting for over 3000 of them. Surely we pump enough cash into local businesses to warrant at least some respect. Without us here the place would be a ghost town. Shops, bars and restaurants would go bust, and the ambiance surrounding the place would be completely neutral.

Maybe the reason behind such animosity is fear of change? A Miss-understanding or maybe even a lack of communication.

Maybe we've somehow spoilt the delicate ecosystem that is Falmouth, with our drugs, alcohol and constant partying.

Or maybe jealousy is the main reason. People who have worked their entire life, missed out on three years of sheer fun, either due to lack of opportunity or knowledge, and now feel the need to compensated for their own loss via discrimination towards students.

I'm not naive enough to believe that all the indigenous people within Falmouth hate students. I love this place, and the vast majority of people here are warm, welcoming and easy to talk to, but its that slight minority who really make me bitter.

But what frustrates me most of all, is the fact that in thirty years time, after what will undoubtedly be an illustrious career, maybe a Nobel prize, I will glance over at a snotty nosed nineteen year old in a Wetherspoons toilet, gurning his tits off, and share exactly the same hatred the builders felt, Because I know me. I know what it's like to be a student as I do very little, and I know I can be a pretentious little cock ring.