Then again, grown-ups these days...

A friend and I were sitting in the library at the law school, chatting about very important things, such as my upcoming phone interview and the male tendency to try to problem-solve when you really just need a good listener. We were up on the fifth floor, and for those of you unfamiliar with our law library, we were in the spot where sofas and chairs go to die. You know the spot, lots of old, comfy sofas and chairs, broken in by years of law student napping, right outside a row of faculty offices where there is always commotion of the odd law school variety.

So there we are, each in a great big chair, our laptops and books out so we at lease look like studying is our primary purpose for being there, but clearly enjoying conversation of the non-law variety, and a girl sits down on one of the nearby sofas. (It should be noted here that I use the term "girl" loosely. This female was clearly in her thirties, possibly her forties, and yes, I believe her age is relevant considering what transpired.) As we sat there chatting, admittedly perhaps louder, at times, than is normally acceptable for library conversation, she would occasionally heave a huge sigh and glare over at us. This continued for probably about half an hour while we chatted about, as I mentioned above, very important things.

Finally, said "girl" slams her book shut, hurls it onto the sofa, yanks up her bag, flings it onto her back and stomps off, muttering something about talking and a f*&$ing coffee shop. She stomps down the corridor of faculty offices, throwing murderous glares our way, and saying something about annoying girls. During this entire display, my friend and I managed to shut our traps and watch in awe as the hissy fit unfolded. Poor girl, if she's known all she had to do to get us to shut us was throw a tantrum she probably would have done so much sooner.

So what is my point in telling this story? Well, there are a few:

1. I would like to point out, in defense of my friend and I (and in case there happen to be any readers thinking that we were failing to observe proper library etiquette) that the area we were sitting in is known to be a non-silent, for lack of a better term, study area. As I mentioned, there are many faculty offices, along with their assistants' offices, and faculty and students are constantly wandering through the area, talking and calling to one another. There actually used to be a sign there, before they remodeled the library, warning students not to expect silence there. Maybe I should make a new one...

2. As mentioned above, this "girl" was really more of a middle-aged woman. Judging by the sheer impressiveness of her hissy, perhaps she has spent too much time around a middle-school daughter. It was great, books slamming, things thrown, eyes rolling, huge disgusted sighs. I don't know if I was that good at the height of my intolerable teen-ager years. The woman should win an award. That being said, my friend and I were both left wondering why she didn't try the more adult route, as one may assume befits a professional student. A simple, "Hey, would you guys mind keeping it down just a little, I'm trying to get some reading done," would have worked wonders. I mean, I'd like to think we aren't total bitches. Sure, I could have said, in my best Mean-Girls-impression tone, "Ummm, if you have a problem with us, you can go to a study carrel or a table. We were here first." But I probably wouldn't have. We're all adults, let's act like it and leave the passive-agressive eye-rolling and muttering under our breath the the fourteen-year-olds.

3. This girl wasn't a 3L. If she's a 2L, she should have figured out by now that in that particular area of the library people are going to talk. If you need silence, go to the reading room, or to another part of the library where comfy furniture doesn't abound. Everyone knows overstuffed furniture invites not only napping but casual conversation. On the other hand, if she's a 1L, then perhaps she should seriously reconsider law school. This was only the first full week of classes. If you are already that stressed out about two people (who, might I remind you, were sitting there talking long before you sat your grumpy ass down) cutting into your silence, it's going to be a loooong three years. Law school is bad enough without stressing yourself out over stupid things like two annoying chatty cathys in the library. Learn to pick your battles, honey, because you will find yourself engaged in worse than that.