Why I'll probably get hit by a car when I graduate

There is a big mess of an intersection on campus that separates the English building from the student union. Generally, noon and 5pm are the worst times of day to try to cross this street because there is so much traffic. Add to this the exodus of students leaving and heading for classes and you have a big mess of people who are all in each other's way.

Typically, the College Student Approach to Crossing the Street works best: just go when there aren't any cars and disregard the traffic lights, and if one person goes, follow him or her. This sort of sucks for the people who are driving but being college students we really just don't care. You're going to be sorry if you hit me, AND I probably won't have to go to class. It is a win-win situation for me.

I generally take this approach when I am outside Oxford too, which I realize isn't such a great idea. I find myself on the other side of the street before the rest of my family a lot when I go home, especially when I choose not to use the crosswalk (another part of the Approach is, take the opportunity if you have it). I guess you could say that I am an opportunist when it comes to crossing the street.

Anyway, as I was leaving English 415 today, a big group of us crossed the street between a bunch of backed-up traffic. The light was green but the cars were definitely not going anywhere. People from both sides of the street were crossing, but I noticed a middle-aged woman who'd been in one of my classes last semester still standing on the edge of the road, staring at the traffic light.

She was not going to cross the street until the light changed. Which I suppose is the law-abiding option. But she's never going to get to class. I wanted to tell her that but then I realized, it just wasn't worth it. If you don't appreciate the art of effective street-crossing, you probably never will.