On quiet places

A year or so ago, I heard a radio program on NPR about quiet places. The author interviewed spoke of how few quiet places there are left in the US. And by quiet places, he meant locations out in nature where planes did not fly, thus the only thing able to make noise were the elements, such as wind, animals and the people that happened to be in there at the time.

I used to fantasize about owning a mountain cabin in the Cascades. Sometimes I still think about having a nice log cabin, but I'm not sure that it will happen any time soon and most of my current fantasies revolve around finding exciting data for Geraldine. The mountain cabin idea is still a nice one and if I ever find the right place, I'll let you all know. Besides the awe inspiring nature and hiking possibilities surrounding a mountain cabin, the solitude and quiet are inspiring and rare.

Today, I understand the author's longing for quiet spaces, as well as Hubby's insisting that he cant' study at home because my studying is "too loud." (Hey, it's not like I'm studying for a phonetics quiz anymore, all I do is type and turn pages!)

Today's research took me back to (you guessed it) the library. I located enough books to make a huge pile and I proudly walked to a large table where I could drop them and get started. Shortly after making myself comfortable, someone around the corner started talking on his cellphone.

I know that I do not represent the majority of Americans when it comes to cellphones, but I still expect a little etiquette. It drives me crazy when people talk on their phones in public spaces, such as the bus, the hall outside my office or at a restaurant. I don't want to know about your illness, your relative's illnesses, your birth control,  the cute thing your kid did, or what you had for lunch. Nor do I want to listen to you plan a jam session, a drug deal or make booty calls. You might think that I'm over reacting, but these are all conversations I have over heard this week while working on Geraldine, eating dinner, or riding the bus to work. And all of these conversations were from people talking on their phones. Not only were they on their phones in these places, but they were so loud and obnoxious that everyone in the same space could hear about their private lives as well.

Today was the last straw. After I heard the man make his third cell phone call telling who knows whom that he was busy studying for a midterm in the library, I had my fill. I walked around the corner and politely smiled and held my finger up to my lip. He waved, said sorry, then talked even louder about how some librarian ("or at least she looks like a librarian") chewed him out for talking on his phone in the library. I tried to ignore it and keep working, but it was not going well. When I'm not reading articles, my research consists of reading dictionaries and grammars (Yes, I am writing a PhD based off of my daily committment to reading the dictionary... I am a dork and I probably did look like a librarian today). It was no use. I couldn't concentrate because this man was so loud and obnoxious. Everyone around me had left. I was alone in the stacks with loud-obnoxious-cell phone-man. Annoyed, I returned to his desk and asked him politely to either please take his conversation to the first floor or not talk on his phone in the stacks. And what did he do? He tried to start a conversation with me. "What's your name? Where are you from? Sorry, I'm from New York and I don't like football so I don't really fit in here." Meanwhile, I smiled politely and said, "I need to study. I'd really appreciate it if you would stay quiet while in the stacks." And then???? Of course there's an 'and then!' He came over to my table to talk to me, apologize, vent not once, but 5 times!!! I was bewildered! I asked him to leave me alone and stop bothering with his second visit. After the 5th, when he started his 5th phone call, I packed up my things and carried my stack of 15 dictionaries to the basement. I passed Hubby along the way, who made eye contact with me, gestured in the direction of the cell phone man and looked crossed. So it wasn't just me and I wasn't overreacting.

Apparently there is a large area reserved for quiet study in a basement corner that I didn't know about until today. There are even windows along the ceiling so that one can see daylight. Why just one corner of a 5 floor university library is reserved for quiet study is beyond me. The Library of Doom forbids the use of cell phones completely from its library. And here? There is a corner. Woopee. Finding myself in the quiet corner, I accomplished a lot of work, until Stravinsky-man showed up. 30 feet from me, as I type this, there is a young man wearing headphones listening to Stravinsky. Yes, he is really 30 feet away from me, and I can hear his headphones, and I know that it is Stravinsky. And too geeky looking guys are two table away laughing and whispering about something geeky. Ugh. I give up. It's time to go home (or buy a mountain cabin.)

So mysterious author of NPR interviews, if you have any quiet places suggestions for me, Geraldine, Hubby and I would love to know where they are. And if anyone wants to buy me a cocktail, I would appreciate one right about now. :)