While sitting in one of my classes Thursday afternoon, a peer of mine made a rather interesting and incredibly accurate statement regarding individuals who complain.

Of course, I am going to paraphrase what she said. It was something along the lines of people and their incessant complaining, asking why they never seem to offer a solution.

After nodding and cheering in agreement, I really started to break down what she said and try to grasp the meaning.

Far too often, especially on Facebook, people are given outlets to voice their complaints. Naturally, those complaints vary in description and magnitude. However, they all share one common trait: they have no solutions.

Now before anyone attacks me, I am not saying that it is bad to voice your opinion, regardless of how God-awful I presume it to be.

What I am saying, however, is if you are going to complain about something, whether that something has to do with the reckless driving you just witnessed or the latest political frenzy that is sweeping the nation, offer your insight on how to fix the problem.

Why sound like every other bozo out there complaining until they are blue in the face, when you can offer a glimmer of hope to a problem that many people have?

Perhaps people who complain are too afraid to offer a solution, which could explain why there are hardly any solutions proposed in those rants found in your news feed.

Maybe they are convinced that the solution they have in mind will never work, or that finding a solution requires too much thought, therefore complaining about it is the bare minimum. 

However, what we fail to realize is that those solutions, regardless of how insignificant we presume them to be, are crucial in any opinion because they make the person posting the complaint worth listening to.

If you are able to identify a problem and cultivate a solution then congratulations, because you just practiced what you learned in high school.

You exercise your knowledge on a different level when you seek solutions, and you prove to those reading that what you have to say matters, and you make them want to listen to you.

Opinions are a beautiful thing, regardless of how obscure and flat-out ridiculous they may be. Do not neglect them by just regurgitating the same complaint in the bowels of social media. Offer some substance and who knows, people might respect you more.

Analicia Haynes is a junior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or achaynes@eiu.edu.