Rules of the Road: High School Hallways Edition
For the most part, I like school. It keeps me going and gets me where I want to go in life. But there is just one thing that urks me about school: the hallways, and the lack of common courtesy I see in the halls. I believe the hallways at school should have a set “rules of the road.” When the bell rings, and everyone swarms into the hallways, one can always find themself astray in the clutter of people.
Some people are eager to get to their locker, while others are in no rush. With these drastic differences, people are going to get angry, like me. No, I don’t think we should have blinkers on our butts and speed limit signs on the walls, but at least a list of unwritten dos and don’ts of hallway procedure. My first point of why hallways should have a “rules of the road” is because of the accidents and head on collisions. These occur because people insist on traveling on the wrong side of the hallway.
Walk on the right side, like you would if you were driving. I cannot tell you how many times people have bumped into me while I was walking to class(on the right side of the hallway). How would you react if you saw a car driving straight toward you while driving? Though it is not the same situation, getting hit by a car is a lot worse than running into someone in the halls. But, it is still aggravating! Next, in high school hallways, there is always a lot of talking going on. But why do people insist on stopping right in the middle of the hallway to hold a conversation? Pull over to the side of the hallway and talk against the wall. There is nothing worse than swerving to get out of the way of talkers, only to get a fender bender because I forcibly had to merge into the other lane.
Thirdly, people walk so slow in the halls. No, they are not being cautious, they are being annoying. I know at CHS we have six minutes to get to our next class, but that doesn’t mean you can go at a pace similar to your grandmother walking in the park. And maybe this is just the runner coming out in me, but people need to pick up the pace. Some students have to get from one side of the school to the other. It is a tough task to be in your seat for the next class in time when behind a slow person.
My next point is students walking should not stop abruptly. It’s the worst when you are walking behind someone, they stop out of nowhere, you bump into them, they turn around and give you a dirty look like it was all your fault. In reality, if that scenario happened on the road, it would be your fault. But, we do not have insurance for bumping into anyone in the halls, so that dirty look given to you is going to cost you. Finally, people should look both ways for oncoming traffic when crossing intersections.
There are many hallways that cross each other in the school. These intersections are chaotic. Some people are turning, others are going straight, and some are making U-turns. Regardless of the destination, when you are crossing the path of where two hallways meet, look. We don’t need a traffic light or Officer Lasky to tell us when we should cross.
And one does not have to stop, look left, right and then left again before proceeding. Some just need to watch where they are going because they have the potential to cause a traffic jam or a pile up. You would be crazy if you were driving and did not look both ways before crossing a four-way intersection. I have stepped on remnants of accidents while walking to class. Those remnants usually being Spanish note cards for studying.
Just the thought of someone failing their Spanish test because they lost their note cards all from one clueless passerby pains me. So, students, teachers, or anyone who roams the hallways, please show some courtesy to your fellow walkers. Karma lurks in the hallways waiting for its next victim to pounce on. If you are the reason of an accident, at least help the person pick up their pencil pouch. It’s the least you can do.
