Have you ever noticed the red bricks pushed into the ground of the “Senior Quad” (or for those unfamiliar, the land between Commons 1 and the Freshman wing of the Main Building)? Students, parents, alums, teachers and Lexingtonians several years ago purchased bricks to build a patio for the seniors. Names, sayings, dates, were engraved into the bricks, and two granite benches were placed on the patio.
Today, the patio is looking grim. Weeds grow in between the bricks. Cracks interrupt the flow of words pressed into the bricks. Not to mention, I rarely see students utilizing the area, except on that Freshman Barbecue day when no one knows each other and everyone sits on the grass and on the granite benches eating soggy, overcooked hot dogs. The quad became home to hazardous waste disposal areas after “The Great Flood of 2008″ when the boilers exploded–perhaps that has a bit to do with the unattractiveness the area is developing. But people paid for their bricks, so it is only just that these bricks are cared for. Which brings me to my next point…
I was walking out of school through the door near the Field house, facing Worthen St. I noticed a large lamp post to my right with long tendrils of grasses and weeds at its feet. Surprisingly, in this odd location, I saw more of these “memorial bricks”. There are only about fifteen bricks, some with writing, some without, forming a square beneath the lamp post. I am no designer or landscaper, but it sure seems like a pretty dumb idea to put a square of bricks at the base of a lamp post. And not just any old lamp post…a lamp post that is hidden from the road, hidden from any foot traffic, hidden from sight.
And the last point of our neglect for memorials and what have you, have you seen the giant wall memorial in the library, commemorating those who have served for our nation from the high school? While made of gorgeous wood and gold leafing, it is in a completely ironic and misfitting place. Surrounding this wall are bookshelves, blocking the list of names of those fallen. One part of the wall must share space with the metal detectors (because you shouldn’t dare steal a book). A metal detector next to a war memorial? Huh. And then there are the ridiculous amounts of signs telling you to shut up, throw out your gum, turn off your phone, stop breathing, etc. around this memorial as well. (More later on the upset caused my library rulings). Why can’t our memorials be proper memorials? Why must we either cover them up or allow weeds to grow between? I’m sure those who have fallen representing our country would be really pleased to see that their names are hidden by metal detectors alerting librarians when someone has been immoral for stealing a book. I’m sure…
