When we were infants, we knew: Walking is really hard. Maybe by now we’ve gotten the hang of it, learned to balance, put one foot in front of the other, even run and skip. But something as simple as walking, an action we’ve been practicing for, oh, years at this point, becomes a struggle once again when we face the obstacle course that is Commonwealth Avenue.
If there were ever a sport of supreme walking, we would certainly qualify for the championship. On any given day we are faced with limited space, limited time to get to class and all the difficulties in our way. Step out of your dorm or apartment bright and early to get to class, and you are faced with an array of challenges.
The first noticeable thing is the cold. No, Boston isn’t a snowy tundra year-round, but as I currently sit in my unheated apartment in full winter gear, I can say that I’m struggling to remember a time when I was ever actually warm. All this is amplified when you walk out the door and are greeted with that face full of painful, needle-like cold. Yet you endure, at least for a little, because the beautiful thing about Boston University’s campus is that every few blocks you are greeted by a series of wind tunnels. Whether it is the brutal breezes of West Campus or the cheery chill of the Charles River around Bay State Road, depending on the day, you will use every ounce of your strength to push through cyclone-like gusts. Spent hours working on your hair? Tough. You are showing up to class looking like a spawn of every ’80s hair metal band whether you want to or not.
Oh yes, there’s snow too. Remember snow? Beautiful when it falls, not so much when it’s stacked on the side of street making cattle shoots of the sidewalks. Accompanying it is its buddy ice, slithering on the ground, waiting for you to misplace your foot and give the traction on your boots a run for its money.
While forces of nature can be brutal, they are nothing compared to the obstacles humans can lay in your path. So let’s assume you’re late for class (i.e. let’s assume you’re me). Ideally, sprinting down the sidewalk like a feral child is the right way to get to where you’re going on time. One problem: other people. Or rather, other, slow-walking people. Slow-walking people on cell phones, in groups, in high heels they have no idea how to actually walk in. Slow-walking people who create a human blockade, a sidewalk fortress guaranteed to set you back at least 5 minutes. When stuck behind slow-walking people, I imagine squishing their heads between my thumb and index finger a la The Kids in the Hall. I’ve wished for everything from a speed lane to a jet pack in order to pass these nearly stationary annoyances, but usually it comes down to dashing through cracks in the crowd or utilizing my poor pushing skills.
In a perfect world, there’d simply be room to pass slow-walking people. However, given the time and location, sidewalk space is virtually nonexistent. Sometimes it comes to street-walking it (and I’m not talking prostitution). In Massachusetts, pedestrians have the right of way. I’m interpreted this to mean that if I get hit by a car while dashing into traffic, it’s their fault. Do yourself a favor – don’t imitate me on that.
If you’re not getting run over by a car (as BU students are wont to do) it’s the T. A gigantic hunk of metal moving at high speeds and blasting its obnoxious horn shouldn’t be hard to miss; yet somehow the risk is always there. At the very least, it’s guaranteed to cut off your path on the days you are most late. The T: always there – when you don’t need to ride it.
And then there’s the minor things that jump into your path like surprise villains in a video game. Greenpeace people, bicyclists who insist on riding on the sidewalk, sidewalk-clogging tour groups of potential students and their parents, all wait in alleys and behind benches, waiting to pounce, clog and attack when you least need them to. There’s also a good chance that on any given day, BU is constructing or fixing something. Whether it be planting trees, fixing pipe lines or unnecessarily laying down brick paths on the street in front of Marsh Plaza, you will have to slow down out of necessity and witness firsthand the beautification of our campus.
So. You’re there. You’ve made it. Somehow, through perseverance and instincts, you’ve defeated the odds and battled through the crowds and obstacles of the streets. Now at long last you are free to sit in class and avoid the challenge of navigating through the streets – at least until class ends and you’re up and diving back into the bustle and flow of Commonwealth Avenue.
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