The problem with pollen

Shelby Papst, Review Editor

The plague has come. It has contaminated our cars, our senses, and leaves us without any hope of escape. The yellow waves come without stop and the only thing we can do until Spring comes to an end is endure.

Pollen. Whether you are allergic or not, pollen is one of the biggest frustrations of the second semester.

I am not saying we need to somehow stop the spread of pollen, which is impossible, or say that it shouldn’t happen and plants should die out. I’m only here to voice my frustrations because I hate pollen and know this is just the beginning.

There is not much that can rival my anger to seeing my white car blanketed in a sheet of disgusting  pollen. I had a friend ask me if I drove a yellow car. You cannot even imagine the humility I felt.

The usual task of parking in the morning has been impeded with me now having to circle the parking lot looking for a space not under a tree. 

That alone is not worth ranting over, but needing to wash my car every week is doing nothing good for my mental state, because when you’re running late for school and the only space is under a fat tree, you have to pull in knowing your Nissan will never look the same.

For those without vehicles, there is no saving you either. I have seen pollen allergies give students it all from headaches to going through tissue box after tissue box. 

The mood of the classrooms and halls are weighed down by the heightened sense of feeling miserable.

Good luck hearing the morning announcements over the chorus of sneezes from every other person in the room. 

Appealing to the teachers, they’re suffering just as much as the rest of us. Eight sets of sick students are forcing teachers into piling their money on tissue boxes and hand sanitizer. The school as a whole seems to be suffering from such a ‘good’ time of the year.

The worst part of the pollen epidemic is the fact that pollen is good for the environment. 

Pollen brings the growth of flowers and gives bees their important purpose for the Spring season. It’s a good thing and yet it brings so many negatives that it blocks out the positives almost completely.

Nothing I was taught in science could have prepared me for the onslaught of plant-gametes in my entire way of life. Until I had a car, I never realized how much filth people have to deal with. 

Personally, I am not allergic to pollen, but it is more than clear from my friend’s allergies how bad they have been feeling since the season started.

Supporters of the science behind nature most likely won’t agree with how much negativity I feel about Spring. 

However, after a month, I felt this issue needed to be raged about for those who can understand where I’m coming from.