Spring, fences and meters, oh my!

Published On: 03/24/2008

In case you were wondering, the seasons have changed. Last Thursday, March 20, marked the first day of spring. Soon, the sun will be shining more frequently, birds will be chirping and flowers will be in bloom. I hope that these things will be happening soon, but there isn’t any sign yet. So far, the only things that have sprung this spring are parking meters and fences.

Some of you may have noticed the meters developing around campus. You may have seen them on 14th Street South where the new Heritage Hall and the Chemistry Building are located. It is almost as if the meters simply appeared out of nowhere. One day the parking was free; the next day, not so much. But these meters didn’t just appear. In the spirit of spring, the meters were planted and then bloomed. For about a week, the meters were simply poles that had been placed in the ground. The next week the tops of the meters had bloomed and they were being showered with spare change to keep them alive.

As for the fences, they continue to bloom in random places year round, almost like metal kudzu. They simply grow and grow…and grow. For lack of a better phrase, “fences don’t die, they multiply.” That’s right, even when the deciduous fences are blown down by the wind and fall on top of students or faculty, they never go away. The next day, the fence will be planted back in its rightful place and another fence will have sprouted in order to hold the others up.
Within several months, I can only hope the amphitheater will be in full bloom on the green and the fences will be weeded out. Then, students will be able to venture to class without the worry of dangerous kudzu fences attacking them for unknown reasons.

Until then, I will continue walking the long way to class this spring and summer. I think I’m allergic to parking meters and fences.

Kamina J. Perdue is a a communications and secondary education major.