It's Really Not OK

We get it; it’s cold. Some combination of global warming, condensation, and karma has led to the skies regularly opening up and dumping frozen water on our heads. This has surely been and will continue to be supremely detrimental for travelers, and you can almost hear those mountains of crystals laughing at anyone who’s tried to board a plane since the first Snowpocalypse of the season. However, where the snow seems to have slowed us down most is on the streets. More specifically, the sidewalks. And it’s really not okay.

Although your average Harvard student is more than capable of barreling through crowds of tourists (always crowded around the John Harvard statue six minutes after the hour in rain, wind, or shine), snow seems to have reduced our pedestrian capabilities. There is no worse feeling than walking along Plympton Street, shuffling behind an Ugg-clad snail, with snow piled on either side of the path without a way to pass.

Granted, FM does not condone power-walking your way across black-ice straight to the doors of UHS, but why no middle ground? It’s pretty simple: Find some shoes with traction and prance your path to class. You will even get there faster, likely reducing the winter whines, which seem to be the topic of 95 percent of student conversations these days. (Exceptions: “What are you taking?” and “We should totally grab lunch and catch up!”)

So, if you’re on a sidewalk and a person going the other way can’t pass you because the Phoenix hasn’t shoveled, let’s make a pact: use the right side—that is, not the left. In fact, pretend you’re a car in general: stay to the right, pull over where needed, and if you feel compelled, honk.