Hidden in Hoodie

A combination of living in Silicon Valley and having almost a year and a half of online classes due to the pandemic has left many high school students with rusty social skills. While some students prefer to combat this obstacle head-on by attempting to make social connections, others prefer to go through their high school years as more low-profile members of society.

When it comes to walking in the halls, these solo fliers are easily spotted and can be classified in degree of approachability. Level one and two solo fliers typically navigate the halls inoffensively, preferring to keep their eyes dead ahead and their minds set on the destination. It’s the level threes that hallway walkers must watch out for. Level three solo fliers almost always have a hooded jacket on and in every circumstance are wearing some type of headphone or earbud. They also tend to practice poor posture, which can be prominent when using mobile devices. When walking to classes, level threes move at a moderate to slow pace but are threatening because of their “refuse to reroute” attitude.

For most people, when walking in a cross traffic situation, going from point A to point B usually involves walking around various obstacles such as physical barriers and other people.

It is unclear whether level three social fliers do not understand this courtesy, or do not wish to follow it, but when they go from point A to point B, their route is as straight as an arrow. The best way to avoid a collision with any level of a solo flier is to firstly identify the path of the individual (it will always be a straight line) and then move out of their path, leaving a wide berth.