Coming back to in-person school filled me with excitement. Finally, my eyes could have a rest from the glaring blue-hued hell of Zoom. Yet what was the first thing that entered my sight when I stepped foot on campus? Ridiculous fucking pianos sitting outdoors and exposed to the elements instead of inside a cozy room where they belong.
Look, I get it. The dark academia vibes are important for Tumblr and Instagram street creds, but we do not need to destroy these otherwise perfectly fine musical instruments. Aren’t the golden autumn trees #aesthetic enough already?
Musical instruments are extremely delicate and require careful maintenance. Being left out in the cold, damp, foggy environment of the Burnaby campus is the worst possible fate for a piano made out of wood and metal strings. The moisture in the air warps the wood and rusts the metal inside the piano, creating irreversible damage to the instrument. Such damage also permanently modifies the sound of the piano. A piano that cannot sound like a piano is no longer classified as a piano.
It’s time to leave the pianos alone and let them stay in a dry, warm, and most importantly, indoor space. Isn’t it enough that we have to suffer in the bitter cold and damp mountain? Why do we have to drag in poor innocent pianos to suffer with us?
