If you stand outside the DSU or even McMurran when classes are changing, you can notice something pretty interesting. There is a massive grassy area (The Great Lawn) in between two small sidewalks that border it, yet you rarely ever see people walk on the lawn. The lawn is much larger and wider than the paths, so instead of students cramming to fit on the sidewalk, it would seem more practical to walk across the lawn. But this is not the case. I’ve seen and also experienced when students, including myself, almost get hit by bikers just so they can stay on the sidewalk path and avoid stepping into the grass. There are no signs that say “Stay off the grass!” or “Only use the sidewalks,” so why do students insist on doing it anyway? How did this unwritten rule come about? This social norm or possibly conformity is often done without thinking because when you’re walking to class you seldom stop to think about where you’re going, you simply follow the crowd and the crowd follows the sidewalks. What I find even more amusing is when I catch myself thinking someone is strange for biking across the lawn or actually cutting across it on foot. This tends to happen when any social norm is disrupted; we look down on the violator. I think it is funny because who truly is the strange one in this situation: me for following the path despite it being overly crowded or him/her for using the grass which seems to make more sense?
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