Stop the slow walkers: McNick shares their biggest pet peeves

By: Meghan Runte

Of all the things that make your skin crawl with displeasure, what is the most annoying? In a recent Milestone survey, students at McNick said one of three answers: slow walkers, Securly Classroom, and body odor.

Of the students surveyed, 39% said their biggest pet peeve was slow walkers in the hallway or large groups that block the hallway. This issue is common in the hallways and makes it very difficult to walk through. Freshman Kourtney Marcum said when she is walking to class, “it’s already halfway across the school [and being behind] a slow walker is annoying.” Senior Evelyn Hurlburt specifically gets annoyed with freshmen in the hallways. She said, “They stand and take up the entire width of the hallway and block others from getting through to their classes.” Hurlburt said students can fix this by staying on one side of the hallway and walking faster.

The Securly Classroom was recently installed that blocked most games and many non-academic sites on students’ computers. Freshman Olivia Simms used to enjoy listening to music in study hall. “Sometimes I need a minute to clear my head and by simply listening to a song that helps,” she said. About 16% of students surveyed said Securly was their biggest pet peeve.

The last popular pet peeve was body odor. About 11% of students surveyed said body odor and cleanliness of people and places was their biggest pet peeve. French Teacher Mrs. Ellen Bungenstock said that “it sends a message to everyone that this is not a place to care for and take care of.” Most who said their biggest pet peeve was BO said it was because of the musty scent carried around the confined school.

Many other pet peeves were mentioned including people talking over conversations, bad behavior, lack of parking spots, and people joining conversations they are not a part of. Hurlburt said “that many Pet Peeves are the result of others’ lack of attention for their surroundings, and if everyone was more aware of the people around them, including me, a good deal of these Pet Peeves could be eliminated.”