Comfort Matters

Comfort Matters MITs main lecture hall is in building ten. Its also room 250. Therefore, by MIT standards, it is referred to as 10-250 (ten two-fifty). Its utilized for a bunch of classes (including many for freshmen) and is generally well-liked. I mean, its a lecture hall, its hard to love a lecture hall, but 10-250 is very put-up-with-able. A little over a month ago an article came out in The Tech (MITs newspaper) with the earth-shattering headline 10-250 Renovations to Begin During IAP Reading through the article, I was quickly excited to hear that they were replacing the chairs! No offense to the 10-250 chairs, theyre a nice purple shade but they just arent that comfortable. A remodel of 10-250 means new and, hopefully, more comfortable chairs. I went into 10-250 yesterday to check on the remodeling progress, hoping to say goodbye one last time when I saw something very exciting and unexpected. Sitting in a row were five different types of chairs possible replacement chairs! I quickly did what any normal student would do and tested every single chair for comfort. Heres a quick breakdown: Yellow Ugly Chair The yellow ugly chair appears suitable. Unfortunately its quite hard and not that comfortable. The desk is spacious, providing a lot of room for resting your arm and writing on paper, but this doesnt make up for the uncomfortable seat. Red Squishy Chair The red chair is extremely comfy. The thick padded seat squishes under your weight, providing a posterior-friendly platform, while the back is just as squishy, allowing for a certain amount of lounging during lecture. The desk is a bit smaller than I would like but is the same size as the current desks so its forgivable. All in all, a very good chair. Black Awesome Chair This black chair is the most radical departure from what 10-250 currently hosts. The chairs are hinged in such away that when you pull the seat down the back slides back, providing, at the very least, an entertaining 5 minutes prior to lecture. I anticipate seeing people open and close their seats for the shear enjoyment of it. Unfortunately, sitting in the seat is not as enjoyable because it is HARDER THAN GRANITE! This is very nearly made up for with the AWESOME AMAZING HUGE desk it sports. The desk is mounted to a pole that sits in front of the chair. It has enough writing room for even the pickiest of lecture hall test takers. Grey Nondescript Chair Theres not a lot to say about this grey chair. Its desk is slightly larger than the current 10-250 desks but not significantly so. The large seat cushion looks comfortable but proves to be quite uncomfortable, forcing the attentive student in lecture to sit up quite high, as well as forward on their seats because of the hard chair back. Wooden Holy Chair Finally, the wooden holy chair. What it lacks in comfort (a lot) it kinda sorta makes up for in stylishness. The seams in the seat are complimented by the holes in the back but while it looks nice and professional it feels cold and uninviting. Im sorry chair, I just dont like you. I have no idea when they are deciding which chair to use, nor when they plan on installing the chairs. Call me pessimistic, but I have very little faith in the higher-ups to choose the correct chair so I made sure to let them know what the right decision was. Oh, and also, I found the markings of a prefrosh on one of the boards. Somebody certainly was excited! Thats all for now, Ill let you know in the coming months which chairs they end up choosing. I know, its very important and youre dying to know ; )