I recently walked into a classroom where a student who sat behind me had their feet propped up on my chair. And despite being upset by this, I refrained from yelling “What are those!” and politely asked for this student to remove their shoes from the head of my chair, which caused this individual to roll their eyes at me and sigh heavily.

When did this become socially acceptable? When did it become cool to prop your feet up on the back of someone’s chair? Not only is it rude and inconsiderate to the people sitting in the row ahead of you, but it’s just downright disgusting. 

Every classroom has this problem. There’s always that one person who feels that the soles of their feet are too good for the floor so they’d rather rest them on the back of your chair as their toes point up directly below your nape. Or, there’s the person who’s obnoxious enough to hang their entire shoe over the empty chair beside you, tapping away haphazardly as their dirty laces swing back and forth near your face.

 And for those of you who do this, I mean no offense. I’m sure you’re a decent person most of the time when you’re not defacing school property with the bottom of your shoe (you filthy animal). 

Just think of the things we walk through going to and from class every day: manure-filled sidewalks, gum, spit, bathroom stalls. Then, imagine having that stuff inches from your face because someone behind you never learned how to sit properly.

In a classroom of over a hundred students where we’re already packed in like sardines, the last thing I want to see are the soles of someone’s rotten sneakers staring me in the face. 

And it’s not that hard to resist from using the chair in front of you as a personal foot stool. I know that some classrooms are crowded and the rows are really close together, but that’s still no excuse. I’m over six feet tall, and 80 percent of my body is all legs, yet I never prop my feet up on another person’s chair.

We are no longer high schoolers and should act as such. Let’s take a little pride in how we conduct ourselves in a classroom setting, and have a little respect for our fellow classmates whose idea of a good day is going through it without having their ears groped by your mucky shoe laces.