I like to believe I'm pretty hip.
I'm dope, illin' and poppin' fresh...yo...or whatever it is the youngin's are saying these days. I'm 22 years old already, I'm beginning my fifth year of college and I've hit that age where I'm close to telling kids to kindly remove themselves from my lawn, but I've still got the 4-1-1 on trends around campus.
However, there is a trend on campus that apparently I'm not savvy to, one that doesn't make sense and comes off as childish.
When did it become cool to yell things at people or honk your horn at people walking down the sidewalks?
The only time I thought this took place was when impaired drivers yelled the word "freshman" at students walking in packs to parties down Neely Avenue on a Friday or Saturday evening.
I'm not one to take part in yelling it, mainly because it's very immature, embarrassing to the driver more than it is to the freshman and really, people are just pointing out the obvious when they yell someone's year in school, something freshmen can't help.
"Freshman" was yelled at me a few times, generally right outside of LaFallotte Complex when someone with the brain capacity of Ronny Thompson could usually be right, because chances are, if someone is outside of a dorm, that person is usually a freshman. So it not only makes it lame, but stupidly lame.
It would be like if I suddenly decided to yell at people from my passing Ferrari (OK, it's a Honda) and point out what they're wearing.
"HEY, BLUE SWEATSHIRT AND STONE-WASHED JEANNNNNNNSSS!!!!"
See, it's lame.
But students have taken it further. While walking to the Village a week ago to meet up with friends, a passing vehicle with four very intoxicated sounding ladies in it yelled something at me that slightly resembled "Downy."
I tried to run them down and thank them for suggesting a product they feel will "add a soft touch of goodness" to my fabrics, but they sped off, probably to Dill Street Bar and Grill where they will inevitably puke on one of their friends or a stranger they're "Soulja Boy"ing.
Point is, I know they're only having fun driving intoxicated around Muncie's lovely streets, but yelling out windows might attract unwanted attention from say ... a police officer.
Thinking these shouts only came from the drunk, I shrugged it off and didn't think much about it until the next Tuesday morning.
As I walked to 8 a.m. class, an SUV drove down Riverside Avenue honking at students. (Side note: Yes, I'm a fifth-year senior who has a class that early. I am convinced I scheduled classes drunk because there's no other rational explanation as to why I have 8 a.m. class.)
Normally, if I'm driving that early in the morning, I'm barely able to keep my eyes open long enough so the two lanes don't blur together, let alone having the attention span to honk at everyone.
There's no point in yelling at people or honking a horn at them from a passing vehicle, it only makes a perpetrator look ridiculous and increases the chances of a DWI.
Write to Ryan at rjsmith@bsu.edu
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