Finals are scary, there is really no way around it. Everyone is stressed. Our brains are tired. Our senses are heightened. We are hungrier. Smellier–I mean who really has time to shower? We are also more audibly sensitive. There is nothing worse than sitting in the library, staring at a blank Word document with incredible intensity, daring your brain to come up with a thesis, when all of the sudden a burst of voices explodes on your periphery  and all of your concentration is lost. 

I have never really understood what about being in the library makes people feel the need to have long and loud conversations about anything and everything. But, I am here to say, just don’t. It is a really simple message. When I am trying to write a paper on the generational transmission of distorted love in Toni Morrison’s novels, I do not want to hear about your incredibly awkward encounter with that special someone at the Peirce coffee counter. Morrison wouldn’t care and neither do I.

No one ever wants to be that person who gets up and confronts those annoyingly talkative sophomores (I’m talking to you, round table of sophomore ladies) about their library etiquette. It is a courtesy that should be implicit within the space of the library. Though I will admit to secretly loving that ballsy person who shames all the library talkers (I have discreetly clapped before), it is a rough role to take on. Don’t make anyone be that person. Seriously though, don’t. Just stop talking and if you absolutely need to talk, whisper. Whispering is a valuable skill that should be mastered by college. Thank you and good night.