There are about two weeks out of the year when driving on the UF campus is not a nightmare – this is one of those weeks. I can’t even enjoy it though because I’m still thinking about the summer madness and dreading the fall madness.
In the summer, traffic headaches are numerous – all of those preview mommies (yes there are some daddies and of course there are students, but the mommies are the worst) those huge gangs of preview people who block traffic by crossing by the hundreds right in front of the bookstore. Why can’t they direct them to cross at the light instead? Those mommies who choose to wear the WRONG shoes for a full day of preview walking, they are stumbling and slow at 8am having only walked a mile from the parking garage to the Union. And then there are the mommies who carry these huge bags, bigger than anything their kids will ever need to carry as students on this campus, and feel some need to dig their cell phones or their lipsticks out of their bags in the middle of the crosswalk – holding up traffic because they cannot walk in those shoes and dig stuff out of their bags at the same time.
In summer, you’ve also got the camp kids – 4H, dance camp, volleyball camp, golf camp – you name it, there’s a camp. Gangs of kids with surly looking adults crossing everywhere and anywhere, often against the light (if they even bother to cross in the crosswalks). Summer, I hate summer on campus.
In the fall, the back to school unloading of stuff. Oh the stuff college kids bring. Oh the parents who park alongside the road, in the bike lanes. I’m so not looking forward to that mess.
And once everyone is all moved in, then there’s the bike lane issue. Don’t flame me for this, or go ahead and flame me… what makes 18 year old girls who haven’t ridden a bike regularly since they were 12 decide they must ride a bike on campus? It’s dangerous. I mean really dangerous. They are all wobbley, they can’t make it up the big hill, and going down that hill, that is just a nightmare waiting to happen. They can’t cross the street properly on those bikes and they aren’t good at paying attention to right turning cars and pedal at the same time. Nightmare.
Let’s not forget football mayhem, leading into basketball mayhem. Oh the traffic, the traffic, the traffic. Go gators, bah!
Indeed, bah to the Gators!
As the only family member still living in Los Angeles, I was appointed the one to help my niece move out of her UCLA dorm upon finishing her Freshman year. I could not believe how much crap she was able to squeeze into her half of her tiny dorm room. It was a good thing I obtained an SUV for the trip because it was completely packed.
In just a few short weeks, we get to move her back in. :sigh: