Traffic Jam

School hallways seem to require an expertise to get through when passing time comes. It seems everyone has a different agenda they are trying to get accomplished, without any respect for the other people walking through the halls. Whether you find yourself trying to maneuver through the traffic jam we call the intersecting hallways or trying to get up and down the jam packed stairs it always seems there is at least one person who seems intent on trying to make you late to your class. The regular hallways seem to be quite tame compared to the other two, maybe it’s because there are only two ways to go, three at tops when it meets with the stairs.

While the stairs might not be as tricky for new students to get around it can be quite the situation with everyone trying to shuffle their way up and down the narrow passage. Trying not to knock into someone can prove to be a real challenge, not to mention that some people just cannot get up or down the stairs faster than the speed of a snail. I was on the stairs once when someone lost their shoe. They caused a dead stop as they rushed to find their missing shoe, which caused a major outbreak of profanities and degrading comments from everyone behind her when she couldn’t find it.

When I find myself trying to push my way through the compacted intersecting hallways I always imagine how much easier it would be to get through if we had traffic lights. If people took what they know about having the right of way while driving, and applied it to the hallways I believe we would have much less traffic. Most people seem to want to stop and hug their friends in these wide open areas, but it’s a bad idea because it causes an entire line to stop instantaneously. Meanwhile, the people who want to get to class on time have to figure out how to get around them without accidentally bumping into someone and getting a cold, hair-raising stare.

The regular hallways, though rather tame compared to the other two, still has its faults. If anyone happens to bump into another person they do not know it sparks an almost definite confrontation. Why don’t you just learn to grow up and brush it off? If they did not hurt you it shouldn’t be a big deal. When someone just bumps into me my almost immediate reaction is to say “It’s all good.” I’m not a very confrontational person unless it is absolutely necessary, because it takes a bigger person to brush it off then to say the first nasty comment that appears in your head. That’s not even the biggest problem when it comes to the regular hallways. How many times do I have to see you making out with your girlfriend or boyfriend when I’m trying to get to my class? It’s a personal display of affection that I don’t want to see publicly.

We know how to drive; why can’t we just learn how to walk?