Emily Allgair, Editor

Don’t get me wrong, at the end of last semester, I too, was ready to go home and take some time off from papers, readings, and what have you. But I’m from a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone, so running into people who know too much about you comes with the territory.

There’s a coffee shop, my favorite one, right down the street from my house. So when I would have to do work or wanted to catch up with someone I wouldn’t mind seeing over break, I’d set up shop there. This, however, is a tricky decision because it’s also the only coffee shop in my town that isn’t a Starbucks or Dunkin. 

Maybe it’s just me, but when I knew I would be going out to any place that risked seeing someone I wasn’t friends with, I would mentally prepare myself for the following:

Oh my God! How are you? Where do you go to school again? You like it? Oh, good! Yeah, I’m good! I go to [insert any college ever] and I love it. I know, break is too short. Well, it was nice seeing you!

And that’s only those who don’t care to ask you what you’re studying, when you’re graduating, if you’ve done any traveling through school, etc. 

So yeah, going home is great. But running into people you had no intention of seeing past diploma day is… well, I guess it’s a hazard of the job. And definitely not worth it, at least in my experience. 
If you have experienced this, and don’t really want to anymore, I recommend going out at the most random times of the day, on the most random days. If you’re avoiding current high schoolers, go while they’re in school. If you’re avoiding people from your graduating class, go on like a Tuesday at 2. But, keep in mind, you pretty much always run the risk of seeing someone. And for that, I’m sorry.