It’s that time of year again
If you’ve ever been perusing the depths of Facebook in a spiral of procrastination, it is likely that you’ve come across the ever-growing Facebook page, “Places in Victoria Where I Cry.”
A helpful how-to guide on where to unleash your emotions, the page has been up and running since May 2017.
“There’s a Vancouver page, about six months older than us and we thought we needed one here in Victoria,” Robin Masters, the editor-in-chief of the page says when asked how the page came to be. “I just have a big passion for crying.”
It’s that time of year again. Photo by Cormac O’Brien, editor-in-chief
The site features submissions from emotional folks all over the Greater Victoria Area, with locations ranging from the ICBC office on McKenzie to the E&N railroad and everything in between.
So, what exactly makes a location suitable for crying?
“Well, it definitely has to have some humour. It can’t be completely sad. Not too many people. A good secluded spot. One of our first posts was actually about me crying in the children’s section of Chapters,” says Masters. “We got one of a location in Esquimalt where there was some ‘I cried here’ graffiti. That was one of my favourites.”
Though the website is primarily a humour page, Masters feels it has a bigger role to play.
“I think it’s a really good platform for people to have this cathartic release and joke about the embarrassing things they’ve done,” Masters says.
They say humour is the best medicine, after all.
Masters, a Camosun student, was a fan of the original Vancouver page. When he proposed the idea of creating one for Victoria to the editor of that page, they were very supportive. Masters’ page quickly gained a following.
“We had our first real spike in popularity when Russell Book’s shared our post about crying in their store,” says Masters.
The page hopes to put up some stickers for sale, possibly depicting a logo, or something that declares the spot a “certified crying location.”
As Masters and I delved deeper into the art of finding a perfect crying location, we began to wonder: where is the best place to cry on campus? A quick browse of the Facebook page led us to some worthy suggestions.
You can’t see from this photo, but hundreds of students were crying inside this building the moment it was taken. File photo by Myles Sauer
“The law library at UVic is a great place to cry,” one submission read. “Everyone around you is beautiful and intelligent and accomplished and it’s easy to feel inadequate which can feed your tears, but they’re also under the same stress as you and so [they] understand the inevitability of crying at school. You do have to be silent though, or the librarian will escort you to the stress release corner where there is knitting and colouring and other people crying. 8/10.”
“Top floor of ECS at UVic,” suggested another. “Nice and quiet. Elevator access only. Professors hardly come up there, and the ones who do will probably sympathize with you. 8/10.”
When prompted, Masters offered up his own personal suggestion for crying locations on campus: the UVic fountain after it’s been drained.
It’s a surprisingly fitting location, as it really is the first and foremost indicator that your seasonal affective disorder is about to kick in.
If you’re struggling to find the perfect place to unleash the tears on campus, we, here at The Martlet, welcome you to come cry with us. We’re in the basement of the SUB, and it really doesn’t get more depressing than that. Also, we have couches, and occasionally, pizza.
We’ll see you soon. (It’s midterm season, after all.)
