Broken Wing

Paint the bridge!

So, last week was "Spring Jam" here at the U of M, and thus there were festivities
all week long. One of these activities was "Paint the Bridge!" meaning the Washington
Avenue bridge, which crosses the Mississippi river from the East Bank to the West Bank.
Now, in the weeks prior to this, facilities management types had been stripping old
paint and applying new base coats to the bridge. I thought, "Oh great, they'll let
students paint a bright mural or some such pleasantness." Not so, my naive inner
voice. Paint the Bridge! day came, and guess what? It involved like 5 students
painting over the new base coat with a slightly different base color. Thats
right, Paint the Bridge! day is nothing but a University scam to get already
over-worked and under-drunk students to put a second coat of paint on the bridge
by dressing it up as an "event." Whats next, "Vacuum the Student Union Night!"
Maybe "Wash President Bruininks SUV Day!" If you're not outraged, you're not
paying attention. Or, maybe you are paying attention, but you are just too
tired to work yourself up to outraged. Maybe you aren't paying attention because
you're drunk. It is you I envy.