What Grinds my Gears: Housing & Bieber haters

You know what really grinds my gears?

There are two things this week.

The first is old people taking all the decent housing. Where is the fun, student-oriented, off campus housing, that is still within walking distance of classes? Now, I’m not talking an apartment complex that meets the needs of a student. I want one that exceeds my expectations. At virtually every other college campus, there are apartments available with rooftop grilling areas, heated pools/hot tubs year round, study rooms, game rooms, and even garages for residents to keep their car clean and dry during inclement weather conditions (something Mines has yet to discover). Where are these around campus? I’ll tell you where they are, in the hands of the old people. These retirees and senior citizens are moving in and monopolizing all of the decent living areas and apartment complexes. The only option for a student if you want a respectable place to live is to either drive five or more minutes to an establishment that meets your requirements or start fighting for a decent house on Craigslist in March.

While students are sweating and toiling over our living arrangements, I can only imagine them, dressed up in suspenders and slippers, watching “I Love Lucy” reruns and wondering where they left their teeth. We students often have to trudge or drive through two feet of snow just to get to school so we can learn. There is no close-to-campus, student-oriented, fun and amenity-filled community for numerous students to live (and no, Mines Park is not amenity filled). I realize that the goal of the housing developers is to make money with as little risk as possible; that is why marketing residences to old people makes more sense than marketing to reckless youth. However, when we fall, we can get back up without the help of LifeAlert, we can read the directions on pill bottles, and we can turn off lights without our arthritis flaring up. So you tell me, who is more of a liability?

The second is people hating on Justin Bieber. The dude is just trying to live his life. Far too often, whenever anything about Bieber comes up on television or gets mentioned in the news, there is a resounding “I hate him,” or, “He’s talent-less.” Well, all you haters out there, let’s take a look at his accomplishments. The Bieber has the most viewed video on YouTube, every single girl in his age range is dying to be with him, and he has made millions upon millions of dollars. So what if he puts just as much work into his hair as you do into your degree, the boy has been successful, and because of that, I’m a “Belieber.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what grinds my gears.