By Walker Dean, Guest Writer
To whom it may concern:
I know that getting to know a new school is difficult. I also know that starting high school is no easy feat because, believe it or not, I was a freshman once too. So since I understand how difficult it is to adjust to a new school, I figured I can help you all with a few of our unspoken rules of the hallway here at Indian Trail. However, this can also apply to anyone who does not quite understand the rules of the hallway and has some difficulty applying them.
Learning how to walk in the Indian Trail hallways is very important for everyone. It is a skill that we all must master so that we can keep a sense of fluid travel in our school. A few examples of poor hallway etiquette include, but are not limited to: walking painfully slow, taking random and erratic turns with people walking close behind you, stopping in the hallway in a group and clogging the hallway, and just straight-up walking down the wrong side of the hallway. Now, this may seem like a long list of complicated rules to some; however, there is nothing to fear as I am here to help.
Firstly, and probably most irritatingly, do not under any circumstances walk slow in the hallways. Now you might ask, “But how do I know what is fast and what is slow? Isn’t that subjective?” and you would be half right. While someone like myself who stands at 6’3” has a long stride, some people who are not vertically gifted may need to take more steps to cover the same distance, which is tiring. The best way to understand if you are walking too slow is to listen closely for the sharp, percussive sighs of your classmates as they walk behind you, or better yet, you can turn around and see if you have a small herd of teenagers built up behind you. If this is the case, you can either speed up or move to the side so that people can pass you.
Secondly, there is not a single case in the world that would require you to make a 120 degree turn in the hallways. Not only is this dangerous but it is also the most disgustingly disruptive of the hallway sins. Let’s say you miss your turn and realize it just too late. If you decide to turn around you will either run into the people behind you, or people will be able to avoid you but will be cursing your name for the rest of the day. If you miss your turn you can always take another one later or you can move to the middle of the hallway and take a U-turn to get back on track.
Thirdly, clogging the hallways by either walking with your friends in a slow, cumbersome straight line that occupies the entire walkway or just flat out stopping in a group forcing traffic to conform to your conversations is an easily avoidable annoyance. Despite common belief, it is entirely possible to walk and talk at a decent pace.
Finally, the sin that makes zero sense to me, walking down the wrong side of the hallway. I do not understand how anyone sees this as an acceptable thing to do since it is begging for bad things to happen. Not only will everyone instantly despise you, but it also just serves to slow you, and the others around you, down. Now that we understand the sins of the hallway and how to correct them, we can move into why this matters.
Most people probably see this as a small detail that isn’t really in need of fixing. However, that is where I would beg to differ. These incidents have caused me to be late to my classes countless times and no teacher will let you off the hook because others were walking slowly.
Now I do not consider myself to be perfect in the department of hallway etiquette, especially not as a freshmen; however, now that I do understand these rules I can relay them to you to help you learn them faster. Just think about if you have ever been in a hurry to get somewhere and someone is wasting your time by walking slowly. If you have never felt this sensation the only way I can describe it is as an unbridled fury that is unparalleled in the school environment.
Fixing this issue that plagues our school would be beneficial to everyone as well since it would reduce stress and it would help people make it to class on time allowing teachers to start class more effectively and increase learning productivity.
Overall, the Indian Trail hallways are in desperate need of attention and we need to fix the way we conduct ourselves when travelling in them. I understand that this is no easy fix; however, if I can bring awareness to the subject and offer some advice to others then that would in the end be better than not saying anything.
If you take nothing else away from this letter, you should learn that you have to be aware of your surroundings in these halls and you need to know when you are causing a disturbance in the flow of traffic. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope we are all able to improve our hallway etiquette in some form in the future.
Respectfully,
Walker Dean