Don’t Get on My List

By Stephen K. Cooper, Associate Editor

I normally don’t keep track of the people and things that bother me, but the editor-in-chief is fond of making daily announcements about the things that are really starting to piss him off. So, why can’t I? Usually, I’m a happy go lucky sort of guy, but today I’m picking up bad habits from the company I keep. In a perfect world, I would really rather let all my troubles roll off my back, but sometimes you just have to get a few things off your chest.

Number five on my list of irritants: The busted up Prince George’s Community College canopy that is barely attached to the Largo Student Center. Some people say impatience is the hallmark of the young, but I think a month after the snow storms are over is enough time to get a ladder and remove the debris from the campus.
Number four on my list of least favorite things: Is it too much to ask for a parking space somewhere in the same zip code as my classes in Marlboro Hall? Sure the campus has seen a jump in enrollment this year and last, but does everyone have to beat me to all the good spaces all the time?

Number three on my list of tantrums: Once the library closes up, there is no quiet place to study on campus. All the empty classrooms are usually locked up tight as a drum (especially on weekends) and the Largo Student Center is not really the right atmosphere for studying.

Number two on my list of ailments: Random people clogging the hallways doing random things. I stepped over the girl sleeping under her coat on the floor of Largo Student Center, dodged past the couple engaged in a lap dance, and then slid past the string of obscenities from the thug-wannabes on the stairway. What else would I pass on my way to the overcrowded parking lot?

Number one on my list of things I hate most of all: Missing all the things that colleges have to offer to make students excited about their school. I never see anyone wearing PGCC T-shirts or sweatshirts. The school mascot might be a pigeon for all I know — at least that’s the big bird statue in the main courtyard. Just once I’d like to see some students excited about being here and not simply trying to get grades and get out.