Why do we keep things locked up inside?

Colin Dodd

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Freshman Jonah Sprandel trying to find room for all of his books in his locker.

Locker combo, five seconds, go. Five, four, three, two, one.

If you were able to recite the three number code, A: Good for you; B: I hope you didn’t say it aloud. If you weren’t able, don’t worry, join the rest of us.

DGS has a hole in its heart that isn’t filled. Well, more like a thousand, and they’re against every part of DGS possible. Yes, I am talking about lockers.

After interviewing people around the school, I found a weird consistency: barely anyone uses their locker. Some people I talked to didn’t even know what their combo was at all — granted, that group does includes me.

The most that any of my interviewees use their locker for was their swimsuit, and they only did because it was right next to their class right before gym. And I’ve seen people set up mirrors and cosmetics in there, that’s pretty cool.

I personally think this absence of use is great. It could be seen as a mark of intelligence; you organized your bag properly, or know how much you really need. Or you have a freshman backpack, hey, I never saw a freshman have to run from one side of the school to another because they needed their science book.

Did you know that some of the lockers in this school are different? Some require you to wrench the handle up a few times because the locks are rusted. I learned this because my locker is that way, and I had to find a helpful janitor with a crowbar to pry it open.

But here’s a counterpoint, gym lockers. I bet you know the combo if you still have one, you need to for a grade. But with gym lockers there’s always a debacle, which one do you lock?

I’ve always thought you should lock your clothes, because you keep your phone and money in your pockets, but I’ve been corrected — my backpack was stolen. By the teachers mind you, because who else would want a bag full of homework? Anyone who takes that, can have it.

Then swim lockers, oh they’re my favorite. The one rule I’ve been told about my swim locker is to bring my lock and clothes back with me after gym class. That doesn’t explain why about 10 of the lockers are always locked and full, and I’ve always wondered who is taking them up.

Lifeguards maybe, but there’s only about eight in my period, and half of them are girls so they don’t have it locked in the guy’s locker room, so who holds the other six? Swim team maybe, but don’t they bring their things home too? Either way, it isn’t cool.

This article isn’t a cry for change, I mean a petition won’t get rid of the lockers, but simply pointing something out. Go ask your friends if they use their lockers for just their books, you’ll be surprised at some of the uses people have found.