I'm in the college library. I can't read my books because there is constant noise in here. I was going to sit in the Quiet Study room, but there were two people sitting close together in there sharing a computer screen, a clear omen of chattering. Yes, people actually go into the Quiet Study room (there is a sign right next to the door that reads "Quiet Study") and talk.
I have this problem a lot in libraries. Why people come into the library to talk has been baffling me. On occasion, they are clearly not reading or studying at all; they have no materials in front of them, are facing another person and chatting away, uninterrupted. And then there are people who act weird when I ask them to be quiet! When I look about, I never see other patrons confront noise-makers. They seem to be reading and studying comfortably. I don't know how they can concentrate. What really confused me is that the librarians make no attempt to maintain silence.
I think I've just figured it out: it's become broadly socially acceptable to talk in the library. This is why I keep coming across the phenomenon. Like most social rules, it is completely implicit. Even the librarians accept it. So, while I consider the talkers to be violating the age-old library rules, they are actually following them: they talk and talk, but not too loudly. Furthermore, I suppose people act surprised when I ask them to quiet down, not only because they consider themselves to be behaving according to the norm, but because I am violating some other social rule, something to do with minding one's own business unless someone is directly interacting with one.
This reminds me of an article someone linked, in which people with AS were represented by the freeway driver who stubbornly remains in one lane, travelling exactly at the posted speed limit, while everyone else drove in a more flexible manner. The thing about that supposed neurotypical flexibility, however, is that sometimes such changes aren't desirable. Some of the NT drivers are commendable in their real-time reactions to changes in traffic, but some of them are endangering everyone else because they are changing up their speed or direction solely because it suits them to do so. Sometimes, everyone is going way too fast without even considering the danger they are in due to their reflexive assimilation, and it would be better for everyone if some stubborn neurovar got in front and slowed them all the hell down.
The whole damned world is full of talking. There is no good reason for the library, the last bastion of quiet, to be assimilated into that.
I have this problem a lot in libraries. Why people come into the library to talk has been baffling me. On occasion, they are clearly not reading or studying at all; they have no materials in front of them, are facing another person and chatting away, uninterrupted. And then there are people who act weird when I ask them to be quiet! When I look about, I never see other patrons confront noise-makers. They seem to be reading and studying comfortably. I don't know how they can concentrate. What really confused me is that the librarians make no attempt to maintain silence.
I think I've just figured it out: it's become broadly socially acceptable to talk in the library. This is why I keep coming across the phenomenon. Like most social rules, it is completely implicit. Even the librarians accept it. So, while I consider the talkers to be violating the age-old library rules, they are actually following them: they talk and talk, but not too loudly. Furthermore, I suppose people act surprised when I ask them to quiet down, not only because they consider themselves to be behaving according to the norm, but because I am violating some other social rule, something to do with minding one's own business unless someone is directly interacting with one.
This reminds me of an article someone linked, in which people with AS were represented by the freeway driver who stubbornly remains in one lane, travelling exactly at the posted speed limit, while everyone else drove in a more flexible manner. The thing about that supposed neurotypical flexibility, however, is that sometimes such changes aren't desirable. Some of the NT drivers are commendable in their real-time reactions to changes in traffic, but some of them are endangering everyone else because they are changing up their speed or direction solely because it suits them to do so. Sometimes, everyone is going way too fast without even considering the danger they are in due to their reflexive assimilation, and it would be better for everyone if some stubborn neurovar got in front and slowed them all the hell down.
The whole damned world is full of talking. There is no good reason for the library, the last bastion of quiet, to be assimilated into that.
