Redefining the Walk of Shame

The Walk of Shame, otherwise known as, the walk across campus in the same clothes from the night before presumably after spending the night in a “special friend’s” room. On college campuses nationwide this is a fairly common scene; Sunday morning as girls stand in line in the dining halls wearing body con skirts and sparkly tops or the girls who smartly grab their “special friend’s” sweatshirt to cover their disheveled hair and smudged make-up as they rush to their dorms early in the morning. I have discovered that there are several approaches to handling the walk of shame. There are the girls who try to avoid it, the girls who try to disguise it, and those girls who just accept it.

Approach Number One: Avoid It
The easiest way to avoid the humiliating hike across campus is to make him come to you and let him have the long walk home. When he asks you to hang out at his place after the party, ask him to come to yours instead. However, sometimes this will not always work or be convenient, especially if you have to share your room with a roommate who is uncomfortable with the fact that another guy will be spending the night. If that is the case there is always a plan B. Only spend the night if the guy lives off campus and has a car. If he has a car you can avoid the embarrassment of standing on the corner in your party clothes waiting for the ever late Blacksburg Transit. If he is polite, he will offer you a ride back to your dorm or apartment and you can avoid all of the stares and glares you would receive if you had to walk across campus. Also, I mentioned living off campus simply because there a much shorter walking distance from his room to his car.

Approach Number Two: Disguise it
If you know you are going to spend the night somewhere, there is no shame in packing an overnight bag for yourself complete with a change of clothes for the next day. Even if you have no preconceived plans of sleeping somewhere other than your bed that night, it is better to be prepared. You could still bring some essentials with you on your night out including: a more day appropriate dress you can fit into your purse, a toothbrush and hairbrush so you can freshen up before walking out into the public. Now I am obviously aware that some nights things just happen. In these situations you won’t have time to make arrangements ahead of time to avoid or disguise the walk of shame. In this case I suggest you try approach number three.

Approach number three: Accept it
This would be my personal choice. Own it. Own the fact that you probably had more fun than all of the people giving you judgmental stares and smirks as you walk past. Walk out with confidence even if you are dying from embarrassment on the inside. And face it, this is a big campus so (fingers crossed) you won’t run into anybody of importance on the walk back to your dorm room or apartment. So take the shame out of the walk of shame and change it into the stride of pride.