There are paths on campus woven between dorm buildings. At some point along one of these paths there exists a staircase that might have been designed by a civil engineer who was angry at the world. It isn’t so much a staircase as it is a series of overlapping cement slabs. It’s more likely to have been “designed” by a contractor who was angry at the world.

Whereas with most staircases we progress through successive stairs by alternating left and right foot, here the width of each slab is such that you have to walk approx three quarters of a stride in order to be in a position that allows you to comfortably step up or down to the next stair. This means that your conventional stair conquering rhythm is totally shot.

One way to reclaim, on these wide cement slabs, the 1 foot per step standard of staircase movement that we take for granted is to run. Running up/down a staircase, though, is not conducive to maintaining an outward appearance of collected composure. It is not sloth-like.