High school is filled with annoyances large and small: homework, testing, entering a new class and sitting down in a seat that is just a little too warm—the list goes on and on. But there is one thing that never fails to put me in a bad mood: people who do not know how to walk politely. Moving from class to class, especially by this time in the year, has become a subconscious act, leaving room in our brains for other, more pressing matters, like an upcoming test or whether or not today is tortellini day at food service. So there is nothing that ticks me off more than my thoughts being interrupted and occupied by someone walking at a snail’s pace, or a whole group heading towards me with no way around or through.
This is not entirely the fault of the student body—the very design of our school forces these uncomfortable interactions on the daily. The numbers do not lie. The corridors of the 10s and 20s buildings measure 114 inches, locker to locker. That drops to 83 inches in the 30s building, and the stairs between the upper and lower levels are a pathetic 55 inches. During passing period, the opening doors cut down the hall space significantly, not to mention the insult and injury that comes with being smacked in the face by an unexpected door. One of the biggest areas of traffic, the passage between the theater and the quad, is no more than 96 inches. Is this enough? Well, let us do the math. I myself take up roughly 22 inches of space, including my constantly overloaded backpack. So for those following along at home, that is over a fifth of the widest hallways in the school. And that is not even accounting for the extra bulk students are often carrying, such as sports bags or awkwardly-shaped projects. Additionally, now that renovations have begun, we have a new problem: the entrances, or more specifically, the lack thereof. With the school’s largest front entrance closed for at least the rest of the year, congestion in the remaining two has grown even more. In summary: these halls are not built for the kind of traffic that today’s students need them to accommodate, and so what may be a non-issue at another school is a genuine inconvenience here. This is where the school could step in for some improvements—perhaps taped lines marking the centers of trickier hallways, or even long-term accommodations built into the renovated buildings.
Especially considering these spatial deficiencies, there is an etiquette that should be upheld to ensure that people can get where they are going with minimal roadblocks. To the drivers reading: picture a two-way street. People need to stay to their right, passing towards the middle if need be. The same holds true for entering and exiting buildings—here are two doors for a reason. If you have to cross the flow of traffic, first check to make sure that no one is heading your way. Keep your walking group small; there really is not enough room for your entire friend group to stroll through en-masse like the world’s noisiest wall. And if you are on your phone while walking, at least stay aware of your surroundings, or better yet, keep it in your pocket until you get to class. Whatever it is, it can probably wait a minute or two, and it will be well worth it to avoid an uncomfortable crash.
Look, I get it. Ten minutes is a long time for a passing period, so hurrying is rarely necessary. Seeing friends in the halls provides an opportunity to say hi and update them on the latest. And the reality is that people just are not always aware of what—or who—is around them, nor do they necessarily care. No system that relies on the etiquette of teenagers is going to work perfectly. All I am saying is that it is worth a shot.
Until humans come equipped with turn and brake signals, the odd collision or awkward hallway dance is inevitable. But is it too much to ask that we can move through our days with the bare minimum of decency and consciousness? These rules were ones that we were taught so young—do not shove, say “excuse me”, look both ways before you cross the street. And to our readers in high places: the upcoming remodeling is a fantastic opportunity to work on some of the issues with efficiency and hall space. In the meantime, let us rebuild these habits because staying safely out of each other’s way can make the school a kinder, more pleasant place and leave a little more room in our heads for the myriad of other daily annoyances that we have to face.