By Rae Jefferson
A&E Editor
As a Lariateer, I spend a lot of time in the Lariat newsroom. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. LIKE HOURS, PEOPLE. Maybe even days. When you spend as much time as Lariat staffers do in Castellaw 232, you find ways to waste time in between editing stories with as much red ink as a pen contains and slapping headlines, copy and pictures on a page.
Of course there are the tried-and-true Facebook and YouTube time wasting ploys, but we like to get creative. We are writers, designers and photographers after all.
Sometimes we have Nerf Gun wars. Other times we doodle on whiteboards that hang around the office. We also love Buzzfeed quizzes such as “How Basic Are You?” and “Can You Even Adult?” (My result was “How are you even alive?” I guess I don’t adult well …)
My personal favorite is people watching through our second-story, floor-to-ceiling windows that face Moody Library. We see some pretty interesting things, and I think everyone should know that we see you picking your wedgies and tripping over the curb. Just call us the Big Brother of Fourth Street, and check out this list of things we see out of our telltale windows.
#1 Your embarrassing moments.
Like I said, we see the wedgies and lack of coordination. I always love seeing someone with their pointer finger shoved up their nose, giving their brain a good scratch.
#2 One-man conversations.
I realize that humans can benefit from internal dialogue, or even occasional audible self-motivation. But if you’re walking alone, aren’t wearing a Bluetooth and are visibly carrying on a conversation with yourself (complete with facial expressions and hand gestures), you might want to reevaluate when it’s actually appropriate to have full dialogue with yourself.
#3 Parking services writing tickets.
This one always makes me sad. Unless you’re illegally parked in a handicapped parking spot. In which case, shame on you.
#4 Friends.
I always enjoy banging on the windows to make faces at people I know as they walk in and out of Castellaw.
#5 Strangers.
I always enjoy banging on the windows to make faces at people I don’t know as they walk in and out of Castellaw.
#6 Collisions: person-to-person.
“We’re hip and happenin’ modern people who like to text and also walk and also run into each other and also mean-mug the other person for not compensating for our own carelessness,” said every walking texter ever.
#7 Collisions: bike-to-bike/longboard/person.
I’ll admit it – as long as no one is hurt, I find bike collisions to be stupidly funny. People on wheeled contraptions awkwardly running into things are pretty hilarious, although I do always feel bad for Beat-heads (people with Beats headphones permanently glued to their craniums) who are blindsided by bikes that shouldn’t be riding on sidewalks to begin with. Which brings me to my next item…
#8 The U-lock struggle.
I always enjoy seeing people have a hard time with bike locks/racks because I know I’m not alone. Some people who ride bikes are good at all things bike related. Other individuals (Rae during sophomore year) are pretending to be one of those people, when they haven’t actually ridden a bike since they were 9.
#9 Coffee cups.
We are across from the Starbucks side of Moody, after all. If I had an extra-hot-venti-quad-soy-half-calf-vanilla latte for every time I saw a coffee cup in the hand of a pants-less girl wearing an oversized T-shirt, I’d be dead. Because I don’t think anyone’s body could handle that much caffeine.
#10 Cats and squirrels.
I’m convinced Castellaw (or, more aptly, Cat-stellaw) is home to half of Waco’s stray cat population. We already know Baylor squirrel reproduction rates are also pretty out of hand.
#11 Joggers.
I give props to the people who can jog through bustling crowds at 1 p.m. I will not.
#12 Sprinters.
Whether running to class, after the bus or to dodge cars at the Fourth Street crosswalk, people run across campus frequently. Frankly, I’m too prideful to appear that frenzied. Class starts in one minute and I have a 10 minute walk? Meh.
#13 Emergency vehicles.
This may seem a bit morose, but 90 percent of the time an emergency vehicle is on campus, there isn’t an actual emergency. It’s just helpful for us journalists to be able to see when police and firemen pass through campus because we’ll be able to cover an event more quickly if necessary.
#14 Sunshine.
On a normal day, temperatures in the newsroom reach below zero degrees. I’m sure of it. So seeing people outside in shorts and tanks is always kind of sad for me, mostly because I too am dressed for sunny weather, but will instead spend the greater portion of my day at a computer in the arctic tundra.
#15 Inclement weather.
On the contrary, I am ever grateful for the times monsoons have struck Waco while I was glued to my desk. My afternoon classes are all in Castellaw, so I never have to get wet. Sorry, inverted umbrella guy outside.
