Normal 0 0 1 578 3299 27 6 4051 11.1282 0 0 0 The Ames High parking lot is a chaotic place to be after school. Anyone who drives, walks, bikes, or CyRides home or is picked up can attest to that. However, there are many more problems than mere chaos in the beloved parking lot. “My car has been hit twice in barely over a year of driving,” senior Burak Demirci said. “The first time, it was only a scratch on the side, but the second time, it was actually pretty bad– the back got dented in.” Both times, the offender drove away and left nothing.“I was pissed!” Demirci said. “I mean, if they had left a note, it wouldn’t have been so bad – but fleeing the scene of an accident? That’s unacceptable.” Many other juniors and seniors who drive to school have been hit (or have hit someone) . A car’s side mirror clipped senior RobbieDennis’s shoulder before the first football game this school year (but he wasn’t severely injured). Junior Mellissa Munkvold discovered a mysterious dent on her car early this school year. “I’ve been hit at least once every semester that I’ve driven,” senior Sophie Pierce said. “It’s unbelievable.” However, James Brockway, Ames High’s ubiquitous hall monitor , says that he has never seen anyone in danger. “Of course, I’ll talk to people if they’re burning rubber or cutting donuts after the first snowfall,” he said. “The same rules as society’s rules are in place here.” Nevertheless, accidents do happen, and almost all the ones involving two cars happened while they were waiting in line or when one was pulling into of backing out of a parking space. Someone drove into junior Kate Dobson’s car last year while she was on her wayout. “There was minimal damage,” Dobson said. “And we talked. No big deal.” Senior Eric Sung was hit on the first Wednesday of the current school year. “I was sitting in my [parked] car,talking on the phone,” he said. “Then some guy in a parking spot behind me backed up too far and rear-ended me. We talked. It’s okay, I guess; there wasn’t too much damage.” But the glossy paint of Sung’s relatively new Honda Civic will forever be marred. The damage caused in these accidents varies tremendously. Senior Stephanie Holtman, who has never been hit or hit anyone, saw someone open his car door into another car, setting off the other’scar alarm. Junior Andrew Shao had the front end of his car completely destroyed this year. Brockway advises people whose cars have been hit to start by telling the school and filing a police report.“I would sure want to know who did it!” he said. “But door dings are tough –did it really happen at school? Or did it happen at Wal-Mart or Target? You can’t be sure.” Meanwhile, people who see hits “need to be good citizens and report them.” Could the root of all of these problems be simple “dumb behavior”? Senior Michelle Gibson thinks so, saying, “Peoplejust drive too fast, and they drive all over the place.” Senior John Yang was almost hit last year. “I was in line to get out of the parking lot, and some aggressive chick comes out of nowhere, was that close to hitting me,” he said, holding his hands half a foot apart. “Then she just sped out!” “People are probably just distracted,” Holtman said. The other day, she saw someone reverse into another car while in line to get out of the parking lot. “I mean, that person pressed the gas pedal – he really slammed into the car behind him – but why was he goingbackwards?” “Well, people are, in general,in a way bigger hurry than they need to be.” Brockway said. “Does that explain everything? No. But kids are usually pretty good about [driving]. They’re pretty responsible.” This may or may not be true, but dumb behaviors definitely can’t be eradicated. People who drive to school should be ready to get hit someday. Put another way by Sung, “If you drive a nice car, don’t expect it to stay that way.” Umm, I didn’t take out the first“or” in the second sentence – the second or separates “drives, walks, bikes, or Cyrides home” from “is picked up.” It needs to be there…