by Andrea Traietti on January 30, 2020
Tangents
The Shower Charade
For nearly everyone, the shower serves as a type of modern shrine. While monks meditate in the mountains, we students seek a similar Zen state of mind in our very own showers.
This comes as no surprise, though, because the shower is one of the only places where we can stare at a wall for 45 minutes and enjoy every second of it.
It is a shame that the place we hold so dear is under attack here at Providence College. The assailant takes on a nameless, faceless, and intangible description, and only submits to the laws of fluid dynamics. It is what allows us to brush our teeth and wash our hands, only to hurt us when we least expect it. It is the water pressure.
What was once a safe refuge in the bathroom has now been turned into a dangerous place where we all stand vulnerable to extreme water temperatures at any moment. With only the flush of a toilet, or a turn of the faucet handle, our peace of mind is scorched away in an acute stream of blistering water.
The shower charade is unfortunately known by many underclassmen who live in the dorms, and is in many ways an unavoidable aspect of college life. Red skin and boiling water aside, this unusual quirk of PC is only a fraction of the college experience, and in a very real way will make this experience that much more memorable.
—Joseph Kulesza ’22
Ray Improves Everything but Hours
Raymond Dining Hall has made many changes this semester, some of which include adding a full omelet bar, more stove tops at the U-Cook station, fruit smoothies in the mornings, and many more new features.
Although the quality of the food is improving, the one thing that they did not fix and should focus on improving is the inconvenient hours.
They advertise that breakfast is served daily until 11 a.m. from Monday to Friday, yet when students get out of their 9:30 a.m. class at 10:20 a.m. and rush to Ray for breakfast, most of the breakfast foods are being put away. They are left to pick between toast, bagels, and the lunch foods that are already being put out. If breakfast is open until 11 a.m., the breakfast foods should stay out until then.
Some may argue that students should wake up earlier and get breakfast before class, but this option may not be possible for students who stay up late studying.
Another aspect of the operating hours that Ray should amend is the closing times. From Monday to Thursday Ray is open until 9 p.m., on Friday and Saturday until 7 p.m., and on Sunday until 8 p.m. The variation in these hours is confusing, as students often mix up the timing and forget which day closes at which time.
Furthermore, Ray should stay open later than 7 p.m. on weekend nights, like other schools do, in order to offer late night meals and snacks. Although the dining hall offers “late night” breakfast or snacks during finals weeks, they should work to offer this feature more often.
All of the hard work put into improving the quality of the food at Raymond Dining Hall has produced satisfactory results. The next step in this improvement process must be the hours of operation as they are both inconvenient and confusing.
—Emily Ball ’22
Being a Respectful Netflix Viewer
Hernandez, Simpson, Bundy. While some of these names previously represented famous figures turned murderers, it seems that Netflix has changed their identities yet again—documentary series stars.
Netflix now has a number of major documentary series out about murder trials, all of which are extremely popular. Some of the major ones are The People vs. O.J. Simpson, Making a Murderer, and The Ted Bundy Tapes. Within the past month, two more series were added, including The Mind of Aaron Hernandez and Don’t F**k with Cats.
What all these series have in common is the entertainment value they produce. They tend to immerse their audience in the trial and give insight into the mind of the killers to better understand their motives. At the end of the day, these are series based off of someone else’s murder and should be treated as such.
While the intrigue inside the murderers’ minds can be all-consuming, it is important to remember what these shows are about, and that there is a respectful way to watch them and talk about them.
When you overhear people talking about the new binge-worthy series on Netflix, do not forget the show is about someone’s death, and respect should be paid to the victim. Rather than talking about these series as fictional shows, remember the victims and their families. For the families, these Netflix series serve as constant reminders of their loss, and we should all remember to be as respectful as possible when discussing these series.
—Katie Belbusti ’22
