As I sit in a lounge area of the student center, I notice several types of students. The studious ones, the socialites, the lovebirds, the slackers, the obnoxious, and the "I'll take what I can get"s.
The studious ones--we all know these guys. The ones who are ALWAYS working. The ones who highlight their books in different colors, depending on the information's priority level. Maybe they take a break to go grab some coffee solely to make sure they keep running, but that's just a maybe. Some even wear those huge noise-cancelling headphones without plugging them into anything.
The socialites--the ones who come to meet up with some friends and have a casual conversation. Maybe over some food, maybe over a project or a class, but calm and casual conversation.
The lovebirds--the ones who WON'T STOP MAKING OUT. Affection is cool, fine, whatever. But in a study lounge? Weird. Especially when you two are in VERY awkward positions and just sit there forever.
The slackers--people like me. We pretend we're working so that our mind is positive about the experience. We have our books out and out computers open, but we're actually just watching episodes of South Park and trying our best to conceal our laughter so as to not disturb anyone around. We're the ones who are just sitting on facebook or stumbleupon or blogs, although we look like we're being productive.
The obnoxious--the ones that seem to have no concept of other people. They spill their food everywhere and don't clean it up, leaving tables covered in rotting, wilted lettuce for people to put their computers on. They take all the chairs in the room and move them to the middle to form some sort of super huge party group, prohibiting anyone from walking through or around them. They play duck duck goose and scream and sit on each others' laps and talk at the loudest possible levels and stand on all the furniture with their dirty shoes that have walked through the city on a rainy day. They sit and debate the differences between double cheeseburgers and Big Macs and McDoubles. They sing like it's a talent show and everyone in the room needs to hear them. They could easily be doing all this in someone's room, since they're clearly not here to use the resources of the study lounge, but no. They choose to sit in public and be obnoxious distractions for everyone else.
The "I'll take what I can get"s--the ones who don't seem to have enough time in the day. They're quickly grabbing some food between classes and only have about five minutes to sit and wolf down what they can. They're the ones who pulled all-nighters and now need to somehow make it through the day, so they grab a couch and take a nap with their jackets as blankets and textbooks as their pillows.
I am working on a paper. And by working, I mean struggling desperately to even come up with a topic. It has literally been hours of sitting here and brainstorming. This lounge is not conducive to my paper-writing, yet I stay. I don't know why. I am infuriated with the way these people around me are behaving, the place is too loud, I can't concentrate. People are being absurd and stupid and the ones that are actually working and being good students make me feel like a horrible person. The lovebirds remind me of my single state. The socialites make me feel lonely and remind me that I have no friends who wanted to casually meet up with me. The "I'll take what I can get"s remind me of my lack of perseverance and dedication to my responsibilities. So, since all of these people just make me feel like crap, why do I stay?
I don't think I have a legitimate answer. I am tired and hungry and frustrated and I need to use a restroom, but I just sit here. Maybe because the oddities of mankind fascinate me. I'm a people person and I love people watching. Maybe I just don't want to be alone. Maybe I don't want to go back to my room. Maybe I'm simply too lazy to move from this damn couch, which isn't even all that comfortable.
I have no good message to pull out of this experience except that people are interesting. Honestly. The differences between us all create the oddest situations and many times, the most rewarding ones. Although this experience is horrible and I want to rip my hair out, it's still interesting. I guess this is the actor side of me shining through, studying people and developing characters from it. Next time you've got a few spare minutes, just look around and watch the people in the room. The people walking by. The people on their cell phones, the people with their headphones in. The people casually strolling and the people hustling down the avenues. Pick up tidbits of a conversation or two (but don't eavesdrop. That's creepy.). Check out someone's outfit or shoes or makeup or hairstyle and if you like it, take note. Something's bound to catch your fancy, even if only for a second. And who knows! Someone might be doing the same to you at any moment. So be interesting and keep an eye out for the interesting. It should spice some stuff up here and there.
Oh, and by the way, nice shoes.
The A.S.S.
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