Failure to yield fuels flames of hallway frustrations

It is no secret that the halls of West are crowded, nor is it a secret that there has been a chain of fight-related issues over the first five weeks, ending in persistent holds and worrisome parents. From pushing to rudely cutting people off and clipping the back of our shoes, these halls have gotten out of hand, and throwing a chain of fights in the mix gets one wondering if there is a pattern. Are the congested halls provoking the student body into physical violence? Or are these confrontations related to different issues within the school?

To dig deeper, one must first consider the dimensions; some halls are wider and allow a large number of students to pass through, such as the main E/W-wing hallway, seeing that it connects the media center and offices and allows for wider gaps to step around people. Meanwhile the narrower ones, such as the southward hallways that run alongside the A-wing, compact students into close one-to-two foot range from each other. Or even inches once a traffic jam interrupts the flow of students where the hallways intersect. 

With that in mind, imagine walking down the hall. You’ve just blown two minutes of your five-minute passing time by fumbling with your backpack and packing up late, as many teachers insist on working to the bell. Your next class is across the school, and one more tardy is sending you to detention and benching you from the game, so the stakes are high on your arrival time. You turn the corner, and your quick steps are suddenly slowed by the clog in the intersection. You bounce impatiently on the balls of your feet as the group comes to a stop- it’s a human traffic jam. Your bag crumbles and smashes against your back as someone pushes from behind. And arms occasionally brush against your own, invading your personal space and causing you to recoil in disgust at the sweat that smears against you.

Your time is running out, and your irritation is wrestling with your anger, yet it appears that you’re the only one losing the game. The mass of bodies thins enough for you to slip around the corner and you find yourself shoving and combing your way through. There are only seconds left, the music has gone silent, and you still have a ways to go. In the end, despite your efforts, you are late and your head is steaming. Everyone else has cost you your attendance, and the next person who holds you up is your target to take it out on. 

Now the particular scenario that’s been painted is just an example, and there are many other factors that build towards the fights that have been peppered throughout the building, but it has to be said that the halls (particularly the narrow ones and the intersections) can be aggravating and lead to more stress due to poor hallway etiquette and lack of “traffic” control. 

A few hallway tendencies accompany the struggle it takes to get to class. Ramming into people (whether on purpose or on accident) and not apologizing or helping them gather themselves or things, diving through the crowd during a traffic jam, or just stepping on people’s shoes without saying anything, pushing up or shoving through someone or group of people to get past them, and so on, and so forth. 

Throughout passing periods, it's clear that the right side of the hall is meant for one direction. And the left is for the opposite, just as in the traffic rules taught by Mr.Morrison in Driver’s Ed. Alas, between the leisure walkers with phones glued to their faces and the speed demons zig-zagging through groups of friends, that claustrophobic space can be a recipe for disaster. However, it could be controlled. 

If you watch closely, there is a speed that most students are taking in West’s hallways. There are parallels in the sense of a road and a car. Follow the speed limit, and you’ll find yourself in the middle, mostly safe pace of zombies. Pass it, or “drive” under this speed limit inaccurately, and you’ll find yourself in a tangled mess of pushing, shoving, and squeezing through gaps, endlessly suffering from the current disastrous state of hallway etiquette. 

By Nia-Lynn Walker

Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue II

November 1st, 2021