I have never seen so much snow fall in an urban setting in my entire life. Not even close. Sure, I had snow days in high school — but in Atlanta, snow days mean a half-inch of winter white and a city of Southerners scared to drive while it’s flurrying. For me, snow has always been a quickly melting novelty; I was utterly shocked and delighted when my snow boots were still necessary to trek to class on Monday.
And despite Penn’s relatively northern coordinates, predictions of heavy snow brought a similar shock and delight to campus this week. For one, snow days at Penn are something of a rarity. The past two days were the first University-wide snow days since 2003. With 898-MELT on speed dial, everyone was positively giddy. And yet for all of the novelty, I’ve never experienced a series of days that are so typically Penn.
More than any common thread, Penn kids share a love of partying. Like geese to the south or salmon up the river, we will use any excuse, any reason, to go out and go out hard.
The snow may have prevented professors from getting to campus, but it’d take a lot more than a blizzard to keep Penn students from a good time. Without so much as a facebook event, it was universally clear that a Penn snow day wouldn't the least bit be about rest and shelter from the weather.
Oh, classes are canceled? It’s time for Kegs and Eggs at Blarney, forties two-at-a-time from Allegro, and sites of sorority girls wheeling kegs through the slushy streets from UCB. The earlier the day drinking starts, the better the day will be.
Street this week, albeit a bit late and a bit subillubiuber, has your usual dirt (pg. 3), your usual ego (vaginas! pg. 4), and your usual cultural how-to's: Arts shows you how to get down and crafty (pg. 16), and Film makes a wishlist of movies they'd like to see in 3D (p. 8). And our feature takes you into the world of living with STIs at Penn.
So go ahead: curl up with the magazine and enjoy the winter weather. But don't forget to rage, because who doesn't love a little winter Fling?
'til next week,
SB
