I’m in the library like everyone else. It's not unlike spending 12 hour days in a sensory deprivation chamber shoulder to shoulder with 140 other people. You can hear a fart 30 feet away, but since you’ve been looking straight down for the last 4 hours your eyes can’t focus* enough to give you the pleasure of identifying the culprit.
I have “study friends” with whom I exchange nods and smiles, but we haven’t uttered a single word to each other all week. Another 1st year pointed to a picture of my niece on my computer and asked if it was my daughter. I honestly had trouble forming a response – I hadn’t spoken a word in hours, and I was kind of startled by suddenly being thrust into conversation – but I managed to stammer out the word “niece”. I’m not sure I’m ready for the “talking to each other” stage with these guys yet.
Just about any stimulus is enough to drive me nuts**. On a related note, I believe the following should be banned from libraries:
1) Apples – by far the most obnoxious food in the world. *bite*rip*chew*slurp* repeat and I’m already climbing the walls. It’s impossible to eat them quietly, so just don’t bring them!
2) Paper, plastic, or potato chip bags – Are you serious?!
3) Colds – Got the sniffles? Stay home. I spent so much time mentally playing out strategies (some kind, some violent) of getting the girl next to me to blow her nose and shut up, I just had to get up and leave.
That brings me to library real estate. I brought a coat today, not because its cold outside, but so I could hold “dibs” on my sweet table (!). Little did I know, my neighbor brought her pet virus but neglected to bring her tissues *sniff*-pause-*sniff*sniff*-longer pause-*sniff*.
I did a lap around the library looking for hidden nooks to in which to cloister, but it’s evening and this place is packed. The only things left are the carrels, or more appropriately, the study stables. You get about 2 square feet of desk-space bordered on three sides by dividers; if you’re lucky, you get a little fluorescent light and a working outlet!
It’s the day before exams. I have another five days of this nonsense punctuated occasionally by 3-hour exams. I’m praying for stamina and sanity.
*Since “eye focusing” is on tomorrow’s exam, immediately after writing this I had to mentally recount its pathway through the brain and mechanism in the eye. Super-nerd.
**Example: the sound of my typing is enough to piss people off, so out of guilt I moved to the “loud part” of the library near the circulation desk where the employees chat at full volume about their weekend plans.
***First “cloister” usage ever. I feel like a monk just saying it.
1 comment:
Yeah, working in cubicles is almost as bad. People talk, they laugh, they slurp their coffee. Can't they tell I'm trying to work? My recommendation, head on over to Home Depot and pick up some ear protection. You want the headphone type ones that go on your ears, not the ones you squish up and put in your ears, those are annoying. You won't even be able to hear *you* type, let alone anyone else. You'll look like a freak, but it will be worth it.
I got some Peltor H10A's on amazon. 29dB of silent goodness.
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