AUDREY REED
News Editor
In November, I should not be wearing a short skirt, flip flops and sunglasses. I should be in my new winter coat and a fashionable scarf sipping hot tea.
But there I was Tuesday in my summer ensemble, slurping an ice blended, driving on campus with my windows rolled down protesting the use of air conditioning simply because of the month.
I pulled into the School of Law parking lot ready to cut someone off for a coveted spot.
“Yes,” I thought to myself. “I’m not going to have to walk far in this heat.” There were many spots available at that time, but human instinct took over and I wanted to see if I could get a spot a little closer to avoid more time in the sun.
I could tell up ahead that there was a traffic jam, so I stopped to wait for it to clear. Next thing I knew, the car in front of me was on top of my bumper. I had been hit by a car going in reverse.
I’m not excusing what the driver did, nor am I saying that I’ll pay for a new bumper, but the truth is that the traffic jam would not have happened if people did not park illegally in the parking lot. Because cars were not parked in spots and rather in the lanes, drivers had a hard time maneuvering through what has become an obstacle course.
This story isn’t meant to be a complaint about parking, or to request the name of a good body shop. I’m telling it to bring up a larger issue at hand — community.
It may not be as evident in other places that we frequent, but at Pepperdine it’s easy to see how one person’s actions affect the rest of the students, faculty and staff.
Also because of the unseasonably warm weather, I’m forced to leave my dorm room window open through the night. I can hear my neighbors’ music blaring during the what should be self-explanatory “quiet hours” and the cars whizzing by on John Tyler Drive.
Just as people in the community have the opportunity to cause bother or harm, logically, they have the chance to do go and help others. Carpooling and leaving open one extra space or not leaving Caf trays out on the tables are actions that have much more far reaching effects than one might imagine. At times during my tenure at Pepperdine, I have felt a strong disconnect from the community. Even though people may feel this way on occasion, they still are in fact part of a greater whole.
I won’t delve into the idea if the world is entirely connected or in chaos or if this is divine providence or purely existential. One could just as easily blame my car accident or sleepless nights on the warm weather.
But one thing is for sure: The Pepperdine community is connected and one person’s actions certainly affect the entire community.
11-03-2005