By Mark Parent, Opinions Editor

Published Sep. 10, 2014

Okay, the honeymoon is officially over.

I’m willing to bet that after raging nonstop during the first week, it’s become really clear that college is pretty freaking cool.

Yet, as the weeks have carried on you’ve probably come to the realization that it isn’t all rainbows, butterflies and giggles either.

Now, let me be clear, I’m not trashing college.

It’s completely ludicrous to contend that college is inherently flawed or brings out the worst in people.

Instead, I’m saying that certain things that occur on campus get on my nerves.

And, honestly, I’m completely positive that it bothers others, too.

With that being said, I’ve decided to compile a short list of things that piss me off.

Hopefully, people get the message.

1. Smoking when walking.

Come on, if you have to smoke while walking down the sidewalk to class, then you seriously have a problem.

There’s nothing more inconsiderate than blowing smoke from your cancer-stick into someone else’s face when they’re trying to walk to class.

And for non-smokers, like yours truly, it’s disgusting.

Not to mention that it makes me hold my breath for lengthy periods of time in order to just avoid inhaling secondhand smoke that could kill me one day.

To put it bluntly, I feel like my cheeks resemble those of a pufferfish when I’m walking behind one of you guys; and I don’t like pufferfish.

So, here’s my plea to smokers on campus: never smoke when you walk; it’s really douchey.

2. People who don’t smile back.

This is the south.

In the south, you’re obligated to be kind and welcoming to everyone; this includes the people you walk past during school.

I’m so tired of feeling like a weirdo for smiling and nodding to random people when eye contact is made on my path to class.

I mean, seriously, is it that hard to be nice?

It’s almost as if people are immune to the fact that this simple action can help change the entire environment on campus.

By just smiling and nodding to complete strangers in a friendly, not seductive, manner our campus will be more attractive to prospective, current, and former students.

And it goes without saying that a more attractive campus to students improves student life tremendously.

Hey, it may even convince people to stick around Greensboro for the weekend…well, maybe.

All you have to do is smile back.

3. The complainers.

We’ve all heard it.  We all roll our eyes at it.

But, sadly, it doesn’t stop.

It seems like every week I run into multiple people who are just dying to tell me how insanely busy they are.

Seriously, it’s amazing how many people have to juggle papers, work, reading, studying, and a social life.

Or, maybe we all have to do that.

That’s right, it’s college.  Just about everyone has to juggle multiple responsibilities, because it’s a pretty big part of growing up.

I just wish that some people on campus would finally get the damn message, so we can all stop pretending to care.

4. Drivers who get mad at jaywalking.

Let’s face it, we all jaywalk on Spring Garden.  In fact, most of us probably do it on a daily basis.

But can you really blame us?

Due to the lack of stoplights at various intersections and the extraordinary waiting periods involved with walking a measly fifteen yards, it’s pretty obvious why we all resort to playing a personified version of Frogger.

After all, if we end up getting hit by some dork’s car it’s vehicular manslaughter.

This predicament, however, doesn’t stop countless drivers from throwing their hands in the air and launching curse words at us.

With that being said, I want all of those drivers suffering road rage to take a deep breath and punch themselves in the groin whenever confronted with the thought of cursing out or beeping your horn at our rude jaywalking selves.

So in light of all of this wonderful advice, drivers, I’d strongly recommend putting on a fake smile and letting my friends and me mindlessly cross the street without looking, because it’s how we roll.

Hopefully, these four complaints, which are shared by many students across this campus, will strike a chord with a few offenders and lead them to change their annoying ways.

And maybe, just maybe, all of the unfriendly smoking complainers with road rage will learn some manners and help make our campus a better place.