It may not seem obvious at first, but what was cool then isn’t cool now. If you haven’t yet, leave intentional property damage and status consciousness back with the school lockers and Scantrons.
I say this because it’s clear the message hasn’t reached a segment of the campus. Just this past weekend, some students thought it would be pretty cool to destroy a stroller belonging to a two-year-old in Pforzheimer House. And this was the second time in recent months. What, is this some campaign of terror against infant transportation? If you’re trying to send a message to married resident tutors across Harvard, the only communication received is that you deserve to be beaten with my sourcebook until I can’t even read the table of contents.
Now, I’ll admit that Saturday nights are made for bad craziness. It’s tough not to stumble into walls or accidentally break things when you’ve had a few. My own list would include my Brita water filter (surprisingly fragile, annoyingly expensive), a pair of boxer shorts (so, it turns out two legs don’t fit into one side) and perhaps a shopping cart from Shaw’s (maybe? It’s all so hazy...). I’ve even probably ruined some people’s evenings with a few naked Quad runs now and then. But intentional destruction of a child’s stroller?
Sometimes it’s not an entirely clear line between what’s OK, and what’s not OK. But this is unambiguous, and it points to the fact that while many of us may write a superb paper or two on Hobbesian political science or know computer programming like a second language, there’s a lot of growing up to do around here. Myself included, of course. Otherwise, I just won’t be able to afford to keep drinking this delicious Brita-filtered water...
