As Bloomsburg University students, there are many things that we take as normality: huge lines at the Husky Lounge during lunchtime, no empty computers in the library during finals week, and even overcrowded shuttles on the way to and from class. Then again, there are some things that come as a nuisance, even to us. One of these nuisances is when our fellow students cannot follow the simple protocol for walking in a hallway, or worse, down a narrow stairway.
Take Bakeless for example. Although the building renovations are finally finished and the classrooms look great, the staircase that leads to the second and third floors is still the narrow set of steps that it has always been. As anyone who has been in Bakeless knows, those stairs are just wide enough for two bodies to pass each other comfortably, one going up, the other down. This being said, one would think it only natural for students to be polite and obey the laws of physics, and walk single file down the steps. Unfortunately, this is not so.
As grade-schoolers, we learned how to walk properly in a hallway and down a set of steps. We would line up with our fellow lunchroom goers, single file, and walk together to enjoy the brown bag meals that were packed for us. “Stay to the right!” should be something we all remember hearing in the hallowed halls of elementary school and something that should have stuck with us up to this point. The concept is simple and logical; if everyone walks to the right side of the hall, whether they are going to or from, you will be courteously out of the way of other students who are trying to get to class.
The same principles should apply in college. If one pays close attention, the majority of the student body walks naturally to the right, whether it be in a hallway or on the sidewalks that surround the Quad. For some reason when certain students are faced with a narrow stairwell, they lose all sense logic and the clamor to get out of Bakeless becomes a free-for-all. Walking side-by-side with your best buddy down the narrow set of steps does not make it easy for those who are heading upstairs to their classes.
The sheer volume of students heading out of Bakeless at the end of any given class should be the first indication that walking single file and to the right down the stairs is the fastest and most effective way to get out, and let those students who have class in the next five minutes get in. Students who are forced to push and shove their way upstairs to get to class on time only slow the process down, not only for themselves, but for those who are exiting the building as well.
This brings up another annoying point about leaving Bakeless after class: crowding around the doors that lead to the narrow stairway. Since the building was redone, there is a spacious area for standing located near those doors, and plenty of room for everyone to stand to the right side to allow students who need to go to class a clear path to walk without having to say “excuse me” a hundred times. When students are heading into an hour and fifteen minute class they really don’t care how giddy and excited you are to get out of the building, so just let them through instead of pretending you don’t see them coming.
As well-educated college students, the concept of “single file” and “stay to the right” should not be hard to grasp. All that’s being asked is to remember those coveted grade-school rules. No matter how old we get, we’re never too old to be polite.
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