I respect Greek life. I really do.

They put in a lot of work for their philanthropies, and they have a certain standard they have to meet in the public eye. However, with maintaining this standard, there is one thing that I believe many members have overlooked- that of promoting your letters and doing things that are detrimental to the chapter's image.

No, I'm not talking about wearing your frat's t-shirts on campus, or having your sorority represented on your laptop as a sticker.

What I'm getting at is simple: don't put your letters on your car if you're going to drive like an A-hole.

There's one sorority on campus I've had a lot of issues with while driving. I know that the majority of their members are probably very respectful on the road, and that there are likely other drivers in Greek affiliations that are poor drivers as well. But here's the thing: I can't associate other drivers with anything besides being a poor driver. But if you have your letters on your car, I can associate you with your frat/sorority.

I know NOTHING about this sorority. I really don't.

I don't know their philanthropy, and I think I sit next to a girl that's a member in one of my classes. But what I do know, is that when I was coming home from my parent's house during winter break, I had a girl with their letters almost merge into my car. I know that I had to get into my car from the passenger side in a parking garage because a girl with those letters had parked over the line, and had provided me roughly 8 inches of space on my driver's side. I know that I've had multiple scenarios like this occur JUST with cars with the same letters on it.

The instance that really set me off occurred last week.

I was walking back from the library and was in the middle of the crosswalk when I was almost hit by a white hatchback. When I say 'almost hit,' I do not meant that I was in the crosswalk a few feet away while she went through the stop sign. I do not mean that I was close to the crosswalk, and crossing illegally. I mean that I was in the middle of the crosswalk and had to physically jump back to avoid being hit. I could've reached out my hand and touched her car as she drove past. This girl had one hand on the wheel, was on Snapchat with the other and gave me a shooting glance and drove away after I had jumped back. And sure enough, she had her letters on the back of her car. (And yes, she was close enough that I could see which exact app she was on)

Again, I really don't know much about this sorority.

But after these instances, whenever I see someone with those letters, I wonder if it's the girl that almost hit me. Whenever I see them in Speaker's Circle, advocating for their cause, I am extremely unlikely to donate or promote their cause, simply because of the experiences I've had with them on the road.

It's irrational, but it's also a very common reaction to situations like this, and I'd advise those who put their letters on their car to drive very responsibly, as they are representing their Greek affiliations.