"I can't today; I'm busy." How often do we hear this from our friends?
What are they actually doing? Do we hear it more often from girls or from boys?
In high school, being busy is sort of seen as noble. Students have a lot to do — and only about eight hours of sleep to skip each night. Homework, music lessons, athletics, clubs and jobs are just a few of the many things that demand our attention.
So, are girls or boys busier?
That depends on whom you ask.
In an unscientific survey at Grantsville High School, 32 percent of respondents said boys are busier, while 50 percent said girls are busier. (The rest said they were equally busy or had no opinion.)
The guys at Union High School, in Roosevelt, seemed to think they're really busy, but when a Pulse reporter asked some of them exactly what they do after school, responses were a little hazy.
Could it be that the boys just think they have more to do, but girls actually do more?
You be the judge.
"Boys are busier. After school I eat, sleep, talk on the phone and go over to Tubbie's house. And play X-Box." — Ben Morse, sophomore, Grantsville High School
"I think guys and girls are equally busy, because they take the same classes and probably have the same amount of homework, and they do the same amount of extracurricular activities." — Jordan Rogers, sophomore, West Jordan High
"I go to ball practice, I do homework and eat dinner sometimes. Boys are busier because they have to chase the girls." — Tressa Gilbert, sophomore, Union High School
"Boys could be, because they have a lot of sports and academics — but then girls could be, too, because of jobs and dance and all that kind of stuff." — Holli Paulsen, senior, West Jordan
"I go home, then I either go running or swimming, and some days I go to ballet. Other days I don't go to ballet. Most of the time, too, I'm doing a sport, but I'm not doing one right now. So I just go do homework, then go to bed. That's basically my whole entire day. It really depends on who's busier, because some people are just lazy. But when it comes down to it, I think girls are busier than guys, because guys don't do anything. They don't care about their homework or anything." — Casey Cox, junior, Grantsville
"I think girls are busier after school because boys aren't good at doing homework, but girls get on top of it after school. I think girls do more, being a girl myself." — Sarah Gerrard, senior, West Jordan
"Boys have a lot of stuff like football, and they're out practicing every day, but girls play other things, so they're both busy." — Chelsea Christensen, senior, West Jordan
"After school, on Mondays and Wednesdays, I have Jazz Band (rehearsal), and some other days . . . you know, it depends on whether or not I'm playing with my band or (just) going to do something. You know, I kind of live my life day by day. Who do I think is busier, boys or girls? I don't know. Boys are pretty busy; girls are pretty busy. There are more boy valedictorians, if that makes any difference." — Stuart Young, senior, Grantsville
"After school I don't really have a life, so I go home, I play my guitar. I watch 'Family Guy' at 9:30 every night. Sometimes I do homework. Girls are busier. I mean, look at me." — Nick Vaughn, junior, Preston High School, Idaho
"I swim after school. Who's busier? it's probably about the same. It just depends on the person. If you have some lazy girl, who doesn't do jack squat, boys are busier. If you have some busy girl that does everything, then girls are busier. But if you have a guy, who does a lot of stuff, then he can be really busy." — Mike Cooper, junior, Grantsville
"During the spring and fall, I go to sports practices and feed cows. Boys are busier." — Rachel Van Tassell, junior, Union
"If it's a game day, I'll usually go to the game and get my homework done first. If that's done, I'll go hang around with my friends. I have to do a few chores. Generally, I would think boys are busier because they are involved in a lot of activities." — Geoff Lemon, junior, Union
"On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I lift weights. And on the other days I go home and eat . . . because I'm a hungry man! I also have college classes on Wednesday nights. Boys are busier, because I think they have jobs more than girls have jobs." — Robbie Gilbert, junior, Union
Rachel Eddington is a junior at Union High School, Lisa Christensen is a junior at Grantsville High School and Cody Rogers is a senior at West Jordan High School. If you are a Utah high school student and have a question you'd like answered, please e-mail pulse@desnews.com or write to Susan Whitney at the Deseret Morning News.