Everyone needs to calm down. I don't know if it's the weather, the basketball team's losing streak or maybe just something in the air, but everyone at Marquette seems incredibly on edge lately. And I'm not just talking about students. I'm talking professors, university employees, the staff at Jimmy John's and even the bums asking for change. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but what I do know is that we all need a vacation.

When I was in the Wakerly last week, some girls that were working on a project just started snapping at each other. I thought they were ready to throw down. They didn't, but this was the first in series of events that exhibited extreme tension on campus.

I read some of the Viewpoints submitted by students, and they were filled with more anger than all of my columns combined. It's great to have people writing, but wow, kids. I'm starting to feel tame in comparison. Retract those claws!

I'm also noticing unrest every time I walk past a student on a cell phone. Everyone is yelling at the person on the other end: "But mom, I need money now! … I can't believe he said that! … Why didn't you show up last night? … Will you stop calling me at this number?" And that's just the stuff that's fit to print. (Side note: You might want to quiet down. I feel like an eavesdropper when I overhear these things, but it's kind of hard not to.)

Then something happened that infuriated me. It was on one of the nicer days last week. I think the high temperature was about 38 degrees, but I saw a kid wearing shorts. And not like "I'm coming back from a workout and it's nice enough that I don't have to put my sweatpants on" shorts, but wrinkled khaki cargo shorts that this idiot couldn't wait to pull out of the bottom drawer. Come on, 38 degrees is not shorts weather! Seeing the shorts was enough to make me want to scream. You always get that one dumbass who insists on whipping out the shorts the moment the temperature goes above freezing, and then other dumbasses quickly follow in pursuit. I hope you all get frostbite.

Why are we so frustrated? Are the winter blahs really that bad? I think so. I'm glad spring break is coming soon. At least it's a week where I don't have to deal with being here. I want to say that everyone needs to chill out. But I can't, because it's not as easy as it sounds. It would be nice if we could all hold hands and sing "We Shall Overcome," but I have a feeling I'd end up next to someone I felt like punching in the face.

Maybe there is no quick fix for the winter blahs. Sometimes you have to sit back, take a deep breath and convince yourself that this too shall pass. Until then, visions of my hometown of Manitowoc will dance in my head, and I'll continue to count the days until spring break.