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The name of the game is denial.
At Ohio University, some students love to play.
Recently, some confused co-eds have become increasingly frustrated about the dreary, dark days of winter quarter.
Due to the three-day bit of sunshine that shone two weeks ago, some are seemingly convinced that Athens, Ohio, is actually a beach, and much like the etiquette in their parent’s homes, they are encouraged to take off their shoes.
The barefoot come in droves and look like they have been hanging out with their relatives, the great unwashed. Every day these students are seen amongst the Ugg-and-Northface-sporting winter-wardrobe clones, trying to navigate their way throughout College Green, Baker Center and occasionally Alden Library’s bathroom.
“The calluses, they like, are so organic,” explained one student who was sporting only rolled-up jeans and a heavy parka. “When they form, it’s like the soil from the ground itself is fertilizing them. They’re pretty thick right now, but last week when I stepped on a discarded Four Loko can they did bleed a little. I felt like I was giving back to Mother Earth with each drop.”
But, for these shoeless students, alcoholic antiseptics only protect them. This comes as a concern to the nearly 19,000 students who share the same stomping grounds.
“I have started to wear plastic bags on my shoes,” said one student. “Walking around barefoot spreads diseases. They think they are making a statement, but really, they are setting themselves up for a nasty case of tetanus.”
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tetanus symptoms include jaw and muscle spasms; some say this explains the righteous smirk on the barefoot students’ faces when people question their (lack) of footwear.
For some students however, life is too short to be concerned with those braving the world shoeless.
“Theories
aside, though, intentions can only be questioned so much,” one particularly
apathetic, yet insightful, student said. “Perhaps the deliberately shoeless are
lost souls who feel the path of life can be tread only with naked toes.”— by Libby Cunningham
