Today's rambling: Stupid school!
Written on Friday, Feb. 06, 2004 at 9:42 a.m.
while feeling a bit

Why does my university feel the need to be SO freakin' stupid?

Kristen told me that they won't cancel school unless I-80 is closed, and that hasn't happened since...the 70's or something like that. So yeah, no matter how bad the weather, we're still expected to drag ourselves through it and go to class. Alright, fine, I'm perfecting my "this is all downhill in slippery snow and slush" shuffle.

But today was absolutely ridiculous. Y'know, if they're going to keep the university open, then at least CLEAR THE PATHWAYS! Jess and I walked out our door and into the tiny front parking lot of our residence hall, and I came so close to falling that Jess didn't even giggle at me like she usually does when I slip (I admit, I AM pretty comical, with my Michael Jackson-esque "Woo!"s). I got angry at that point, because the parking lot was never plowed. So all the slush that had been created over the past few weeks was still on the ground, but frozen with a layer of ice and rain over top of it. And the road leading TO the parking lot was the exact same way. So I turned and slogged through the ice-covered snow instead, simply because at least there I could follow footsteps and was less likely to fall.

So then we got to the stairway. These stairs are big, wide things, and yet they were all covered in a solid sheet of ice. No ice-covered slush this time; no, it was seriously just thick ice. I'd say at least 2 inches of it. I had to grab onto the handrail with both hands just to keep myself upright...and even then, my feet kept sliding underneath me (even when I was standing still). My balance was already off, what with my schoolbag, so this was just miserable. After about 4 steps, Jess and I realized there was no way we'd be able to make it to the Comm building. It's a completely downhill slope going there, and if we couldn't even keep ourselves up on level ground, how would we be able to make it down hills? So we came back to our rooms. It took us over 10 minutes to do all that, and that trip is usually about...oh, I'd say a minute to get from the front door to the steps and back.

This is ridiculous. What the heck is up with these people? I know ice is harder to get rid of than snow, but the guy out there on the steps was only JUST starting to do anything to them...and the plow truck went by once with salt (or gravel, or whatever the heck that black stuff was). Shouldn't the trucks, at least, have gone out much earlier than this? Whatever happened to prevention?

Well, screw it. I'm going back to bed.