My goal is to get to class in 6 minutes and my destination is the infamously crowded 200 hallway. Some say this feat is impossible, but I still try to make a desperate attempt to get to class on time.   

I am already running late to class when my time quickly starts disappearing and I get stuck behind the slowest walker, “the granny walker.” I understand that students are usually not in a hurry to get to class but I don’t understand why they feel the need to resemble a “granny walker” when I am running late to class. After several unsuccessful attempts to pass them I am forced to walk behind them until they decide to turn.

Then I encounter “the stop and talker.”  You know- the people who stop to have a conversation in the middle of the hallway creating an obstacle for other students to walk around.  These clueless conversationalists think their chatter is the most important thing in the world, but my precious time is running out.

After that crisis ends I turn a corner and see the “packers.”  No, not the Green Bay Packers (although they form a defensive line that might rival Green Bay) I am referring to those girls that walk in a pack.  They form one long line that stretches across the hall. Shoulder-to-shoulder they are an impenetrable wall of babbling blondes who cannot be apart for even one class change.  If you encounter them at the 200 hallway squeeze near the bathrooms– FORGET ABOUT IT.

My destination is finally in sight when I get stuck behind the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie cart line. This is the worse obstacle to try and avoid because it is never a good thing to try and get between students and their cookies.  The cookie line is so long that it takes up the already overly crowded hallway not to mention it couldn’t be in a more inconvenient place. It is placed in the most crowded hallway and in the most jam-packed spot where students are trying to get through the door to go outside or come inside.

After I bravely force my way through the sugar crazed students I have to make the deadly left into my classroom. If I do not time my turn absolutely perfectly then I will be t-boned in a split second.  My seconds start ticking away but my timing must be absolutely impeccable.  Finally, I reach my destination but with only seconds to spare and I just barely escaped a tardy.

Clearly, hallway etiquette is becoming a serious problem because students don’t know how to share the hallways, or they just don’t care.  Maybe our hallways need to start using traffic lights or stop lights so students can actually get to class on time and avoid traffic jams. Of course everyone could just share the hallway, but that is something that is apparently just too hard.