Do you remember last year when McKinley was blocked off from Petty Road to Riverside Avenue? Do you remember how much of a pain it was just to cross the street from Bracken Library to the Atrium? And with all the complaining from May to August, the end result was worth the hassle and inconvenience. McKinley Avenue was almost unrecognizable with its nicely bricked sidewalks and its landscaped medians. For the first time in my three full years of school here, I enjoyed walking through campus.
But this could have also been because the university added more pedestrian walkways and repaved the road. Gone was the pothole near the Schafer Tower. Freshman year, I became well acquainted with that pothole. Nothing says "Welcome to Ball State" like taking a misstep and falling in the middle of McKinley Avenue for the whole campus to see.
The point is, however, that you can't argue with the fact that campus looks a million times better than before. But what I can't understand now is how, in a year's time, there are at least a hundred gum spots on the sidewalks. What was the point of spending money, adding aesthetic value to the campus if people can't get rid of their chewed gum in one of the many trash cans that have been placed about every 10 feet along McKinley Avenue?
And if you don't want to throw away the gum, just swallow it. If swallowing gum were really that bad for you, gum would be more expensive to buy, and people would start suing the chewing gum factories in the same way people sue the tobacco industry. Parents tell their kids not to swallow their gum because they don't feel like doing the Heimlich maneuver.
While complaining about people on campus and their inability to dispose of their chewing gum properly, a friend informed me of a tree near the Emens Parking Garage and Pruis Hall that is being covered with gum. I'm going to make sure to check it out while walking to class tomorrow, but I have to ask - what's the point?
Hasn't anyone at one point or another stepped in gum, only to become immediately irritated after feeling one foot stick to the ground more than the other? Nothing's worse than stepping in gum that's been cooking on the hot cement for a while - especially in a pair of brand new sneakers - and not finding out about it until you've tracked it inside your house and onto the carpet.
I don't accept the excuse that people are too lazy to throw away their gum, either. If you're not too lazy to pull the gum out of the package, to unwrap the gum or to even find the motivation to walk to class and chew gum at the same time, then you're not too lazy to walk the 20 or so steps to the next trash can to throw your gum away. And if you can't throw your gum away, or get over your mother's voice in your head telling you not to swallow your gum, then you have no business chewing gum to begin with.
Have some respect, if not for your campus and keeping it looking nice -ยก-then for the people who work in the summer heat from May to August to improve the appearance of campus and throw your gum away in a trash can.
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