Rip the welcome mat from right out under them

The students are back. The down side of redoing the kitchen this summer is that the weather is so mild that I keep thinking that it is still June. Alas, I have missed my opportunity to sit in peace and quiet on the terrace and eat ice cream, to get a parking spot down town or claim a chair in the cafe at the Barnes and Noble. Today a simple trip across town was plagued with several near-death experiences as visiting parents and oblivious teenagers attempted to navigate Madison's streets for the first time. I was greeted with gorgeous views of trash piles dumped willy-nilly on the street and pedestrians wandering out into a 35 mph road nowhere near a crosswalk and giving YOU the dirty look.

I guess it is because i worked for families while i was in college that I always realized that Columbia was a real town where real people lived. Students here don't seem to get it that Madison does not completely revolve around the university. The state capitol employs far more people. i know I grouse about the students every year, but it makes me sad that I have to sift through these thousands of dead beats to find a baby sitter for my kid.