The path that is not a path

Behind me a carpark - in front of me a gap between two building, leading to the entrance of the library.  Can you see the path?
There are no lights here and it's dark an awful lot in this part of the world, in winter.
A conversation about campus safety is going on, between the property manager and the people responsible for student safety...
A  "It's very dark here, shouldn't there be lights?
B   "No, there's no path here."
A   "But people walk here".
B    "They shouldn't walk here, there's no path."
A    "But this way it's only one third the distance of walking around the building, so they do walk here."
B   "There's no path here, we don't need lights."
A    "But they DO walk here, especially when the weather's  bad."
B     "There's no path here, they should walk around the building."
A    "But look, there is a path here - you can see it, we are standing on it!"
B    "No, you are wrong. Look at my map, there is no path here. The map says there is no path here.
A     Gives up in disgust and walks away between the two building, towards the library, along the path that is not a path.