Greg Caggiano

When I first stepped into the two-bedroom Colony Townhouse assigned to me and my three roommates, I was in awe. It was more spacious than I could have ever imagined, at least compared to the dorm room I had been stuck in the previous year. As I unpacked all my belongings, tantalizing thoughts of cramming a drum set in the basement danced through my mind. Everything was going quite well and fall quarter progressed rather nicely, but the nearly perfect living situation came at a price. Eventually, I realized that Colony Manor was an island… and I was stranded on it.

It is difficult enough to get around Rochester without a vehicle to drive to buy food off campus, go to the movies, or make a run to Wegmans with. This problem was addressed by Flex Car; if you really needed to go somewhere, that option would always be present. Unfortunately, it would not be logical to rent a Flex Car every time your stomach rumbled.

If you live in the dorms, Perkins, or Riverknoll, you hardly have to walk far to get something to eat. Living in Colony and finding your refrigerator empty makes the situation a little trickier. Assuming you have the cash and your parents are not already spending money on a meal plan, you can order take-out food from your restaurant of choice. If you need to finish off your debit, you can order a plate of wings and a number of other items to fill the ten-dollar minimum to order food from the Commons for delivery. Either way, you’ll probably be spending more than you should, and have to wait longer. However, there is another option: You could choose to walk all the way to Commons through the wind and the rain and the wind and the snow just to purchase another Quiznos sub.

I suppose any two places on campus could be considered walking distance from each other, but Rochester weather hardly permits a walk that would not end with catching a bad cold or with slipping in a puddle or black ice and cracking your head open. It may sound lazy, but I am not too keen on walking to class every day when the surroundings are covered in snow or rain. For people like me, the bus would seem convenient, but RTS and I have a very frustrating love-hate relationship.

It began the very first day classes started, when I waited an hour and a half for the bus to simply pass me by. The stroke of bad luck continued when I ended up on the bus to Rustic Village and had to ask a roommate to come and pick me up. I need not mention the constant battle I face on Tuesday nights, wondering if I’m going to get out of the Reporter e-board meeting on time to catch the last bus at 9:25 p.m.

Students in similar situations probably encounter the same problems. It is difficult to get around when you do not want to inconvenience your friends and roommates and make them think that all they are to you is a driver. Maybe this will change for Colony students when Park Point is set up and fully functional. Until then, who is willing to be hired as my personal chauffeur?