Traffic troubled halls

Story by Ellie Marshall

The hallways are supposed to be a simple place — just a path from one class to the next. But they’ve become the site of one of the most frustrating daily challenges: “hallway rage.”

For some students, the problem starts with slow walkers. They can make getting from one class to another feel like an impossible mission.

“[I get hallway rage] When people who are walking slowly get in my way when I’m walking to class,”  Junior Collin Nielson said.

Assemblies only add to the chaos. Students flooding into the hallways all at once can turn the space into a bottleneck of shuffling feet.

“I get hallway rage when we have an assembly and everyone is shuffling down the hallway,” Junior Kenyon Thorton said.

Others say the issue isn’t just about speed — it’s about awareness. Chelsea Burton explained that one of the biggest frustrations is when people don’t seem to realize others are trying to get places.

“It’s when people don’t understand that people have somewhere to be,” she said.

The lunch rush is another flashpoint. Students eager to grab food often race down the hall, colliding with those who just want to make it to the cafeteria in one piece.

 “[I usually see it] At lunch when people run to go eat lunch. Hallway rage is very common, and we should probably put a stop to it,” Burton said,

Still, nothing seems to compare to students who stop right in the middle of the hallway, blocking traffic.

“I see it when people are in the middle of the hall, and they just stand there, and people are trying to get to class and they won’t move,” Burton said.

Reactions to hallway rage vary. Some students shrug it off, while others feel their patience slipping away. Burton described the mixed responses she’s noticed.

“Either I get the attitude of ‘Ok buddy, calm down,’ or ‘Yeah, that’s valid.’ Because sometimes people overdo it, like people need to be able to walk at their own pace and sometimes you just need to calm down.”

In the end, it might come down to a balance between patience and consideration. Students may not be able to control hallway crowds, but they can choose how they respond.

“If you want to stand somewhere, you need to stand in a classroom or off to the side,” Burton said.