by Jen Woodlee
After you’ve been in College Station for a while, you’ve learned a few different key aspects to a safe and successful life specific to this town. You’ll learn that bikes ALWAYS have the right of way, especially if you’re a pedestrian, and getting in the way of said bikers, will eventuate in being late to class and having to explain the cuts and scrapes of being run over. You’ll learn that A&M holds our traditions to a higher standard and like most religions, we like to keep things unchanged, untouched by the jaded outside world. That extends to the 6th floor carpet of Evans, where we haven’t changed the lime green carpet since the well before the 60’s. But above all else, you’ll learn that you should always carry an umbrella in your already stuffed backpack.
Yep, it’s raining…again. You don your maroon parka, slip on your rain boots, and when you get outside, you open up the umbrella you got specifically for days like this. When going out onto campus, there are some certain courtesies that we seem to be completely blind to when it comes to getting from A to B on a rainy day. Welcome to Rainy Day Etiquette.
Let’s talk about these umbrellas. There is no need to for you to buy an umbrella sizeable enough to give cover to the whole of Academic Plaza. Remember, you’re walking to class with 46,000 other people, who have to walk beside you, and last time I checked most umbrellas still have those pointy things on the ends. Dangerous! When it gets a little congested with the multitude of umbrellas that are scurrying about, be courteous and watch your umbrella.
I’m a fan of rain boots, I really am. I have some. They’re pink and leopard, and on the inside they’re soft and comfy. On the outside they mean business, and there is no moisture allowed to get on my freshly pedicured feet. Just because you are protected by their rubbery soles does not mean that everyone else is. When you purposefully walk into a puddle on campus because you can without facing the consequences, doesn’t mean that the puddle disappears to everyone else. Splashing around in puddles for the sinful joy is okay, but please don’t do it when your fellow Aggies are walking two feet behind you to suffer in the wake of your splashing.
The last issue I have with the appalling lack of etiquette we have regarding rainy days, is that we all laugh and giggle in movies when a truck hits a puddle and splashes nearby onlookers. The problem is that that also happens in real life. This goes for bikers, buses, trucks, golf carts, cars, and anything with an engine that could get on the road; when it’s raining outside and you see a group of people on the sidewalk, scoot over a little. I promise that the alternative is funnier, but karma is a bitch.
Not to say that getting from A to B is a complicated process, but on rainy days, it makes it a whole lot harder to do without raining on someone’s parade. Pay attention to yourself, your fellow Aggies, and your umbrella prongs, because if you poke someone’s eye out with your massive umbrella, the rainy day will be the last of your worries.