SEAS people will wait for anything.

I eagerly awaited the 7 pm hoodie giveaway. I didn’t mind the hoodie, but I knew I needed one. Lerner Satow was where it’d all go down—we’d get our drip, and then we’d dip. As students started lining up, I raced from work to get into the line at about 5:30 pm. One and a half hours early, and I was still late. 

The line grew to about 15 people before I joined. A friend held the cold ground for me before I arrived. He was there for merely minutes before another line grew behind him. Are we all crazy, or are we all sane?

Was this hoodie really worth it? As the line grew, our patience thinned. We pursed our lips at the slightest comment and spread away to get far from each other’s touch. Our schoolwork lay in front of us, eager to get done. But we ignored it. 

Our puffy winter jackets served as pillows and blankets as we sat. Only 20 minutes had passed before the first comment was made. Friends had tried to join us, cut with us, in line. We tried to shoo them away—they weren’t dedicated. They didn’t deserve it. And yet they stayed.

We sat in mild chatter until 6:10 pm. Columbia Engineering Student Council had posted, “Free Red Bull on Lerner Ramps!” My feet never moved so fast. I sprinted to the elevator, each footstep quicker than the next. Then I waited. My friend gradually got up and dragged over by the time the elevator arrived. Then, I slammed the button to the 2nd floor. The Red Bull would be mine. 

When we arrived downstairs, we discovered there was enough Red Bull for all of us, but we selfishly took three each. We waited for so long—we deserved it. 

As we sprinted back upstairs, we discovered that mere minutes had passed, and the line kept growing. More friends attempted to cut, and we rejected some. 

The clock ticked closer to 7 as we were told to fill out Google Forms and as the head of the line was told to move closer to us. The line smashed together; all of the students who had waited hours were now in one big bundle. A group of SEAS men, having just gotten off the 5th floor elevator, took advantage of the confusion and attempted to cut me. I moved my body to allow my friends the chance to get ahead of them, but not every one of my friends got through.

As I skipped into Lerner Satow, I happily scanned my ID and grabbed a new hoodie. The SEAS merch was mine. I left Lerner Satow to see my friends still waiting and the SEAS line skippers happily ready to grab the hoodie, ignoring the three storylines below them.

Having to still work on my boat and my homework, I left my friends. I’d see them another day, wearing that ESC Hoodie.

Lerner via Author