Can I rant for a second?

I was just trying to walk consistently and get to class, not bump anyone, but instead, I had to slow to a snail’s pace. I was already a bit late, and being tardy to physics because of someone else’s lousy hallway etiquette was not on my to-do list.

As a senior, I’ve experienced it all, even been part of the problem too many times to count. I admit to blocking the hall a bit with my friends, turning around suddenly, or accidentally flat-tiring someone. The problem is that everyone does it, everyone makes hallway mistakes, and there’s no simple solution. 

There are hallways that are worse than others, and after interviewing many students across grades, the top five are:

• Where the 600s meet the library meet the 400s
• Senior lounge to 600s
• Cafe and language arts hallway intersection
• Bottom of the school during block lunches
• Math doorways (why are they always closed?!)

Block lunch traffic is the absolute worst of the worst. It’s incredibly more crowded than a regular Monday, Tuesday, or Friday. The cafe area can get so overwhelming at times, which means that students need to be even more conscious of people around them. Pay attention if people are trying to squeeze through; if you can, make space!

Here’s a question: Who needs the most improvement? In an Instagram poll, 391 students (21% of Fairview) provided their opinion on which grade has the worst hallway behavior. 

• 69% said Freshmen are the worst,
• 13% said Sophomores,
• 8% said it was Juniors, and
• 10% said Seniors

So, apparently, people think that freshmen are the worst. There could be many reasons for this. Consider when you first entered high school; remember how intimidating the hallways were, the feeling of needing to fit in and seem cool. While this doesn’t excuse their bad habits, I think the upperclassmen are a bit worse than freshmen or sophomores. Think of the senior lounge/senior locker area. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to elbow my way through that crowd. 

On that note, here are some rules that I think are most important when in the halls.

Hallway Etiquette Rules:

• Keep a steady pace and match the pace of people in front of you
• Don’t stop suddenly in the hallway
• When turning, don’t make sharp turns and cut people off
• Don’t walk more than two/three people across
• People on crutches are excused and should be yielded to
• Walk on the right (duh!)
• Close gaps in front of you
• Be considerate of slow people if they have slow people in front of them
• Avoid playing chicken (walking the same path opposite ways, not knowing which way you’re going to veer to get around each other)
• Apologize if you bump into someone — be kind!

It’s a lot, I know, but most of it is actually second nature. Despite this, many people will indeed stop suddenly, they will cut people off, walk on the left, be super slow, and overall be inconsiderate of others. The bottom line is, be considerate when in the halls of Fairview. Be patient and give people the benefit of the doubt. Unless, of course, they seem to be completely blind to everyone around them. Then maybe give them a withering look or two.