I have a cold. I have had a cold for four days now. On Monday I called the health clinic. The man who answered the phone asked for my symptoms and my temperature. I told him I had been sneezing all morning and had a runny nose. He asked my temperature and I told him that I didn’t have a thermometer. He told me to go to the front desk because they have them, then to call him back after I got my temperature. Okay.

The front desk was closed, of course. I called him back and told him this. He was very quiet for about thirty seconds. The idea that the Cunningham front desk was closed was not an unfathomable one. He finally said to call him back when I had my temperature, because “they can’t work you in unless you have a fever of over 100.” He told me to review the swine flu awareness checklist to see if I had any of the symptoms it mentioned before I call him back. Are you kidding me? I hung up.

I understand this is a pandemic. I know it’s plagued a lot of people and it’s a serious problem. But when did it become the only sickness there is? Not everyone who has a runny nose and is sneezy has the godforsaken H1N1 disease. I don’t have a headache. I don’t have the runs. And I don’t “feel like I’ve been hit by a bus”. I have a COLD, a common COLD. And I just want you to confirm that, health clinic. I don’t want any more literature on swine flu.

I got my nifty disposable thermometer from the front desk once it opened. I had no fever Still, needless to say, they should stop letting students work the phones in the clinic. Though, in their defense, I understand they were down a nurse practitioner this week.

 

 

I had two tests and one paper last week. I was in the library a lot. The problem that I am about to expand on only reached maximum annoyance this past week, since I was spending lots of time there studying.

The downstairs of the library is filled with workstations and computers. It’s for group projects and research. The talkativeness there is understandable. Upstairs, there are signs hung up that read “quiet area: please no phone calls, just texting.” I have always understood the upstairs portion of the library of somewhere that is quiet all together. Everyone seems to keep relatively quiet, and I thought that cell phone conversations were generally a no-go in the library all together.

Last week I observed something that happens often in Greenwood Library, as it does in probably all college libraries (doesn’t make it any less annoying). The scenario is as follows: Two girls sitting three tables down from me are studying together. They have been relatively quiet, reducing their conversation to murmuring with the occasional eruption of laughter as one shows the other a text she had received. They then go back to studying.

They weren’t bothering me in the least. When I’m studying, no room can be quiet enough, though I have to recognize that the library is a shared space. What happens next is something I can’t stand anywhere; whether it’s in the library or anywhere else.

A boy approaches their table and starts talking to one of them. The eruptions of laughter become more frequent and loud. They continue talking and then the ultimate sign of distraction commences: the girl conversing with the boy puts down the note cards she was quizzing her friend with.

This is a horrendous downward spiral. They will continue talking for a few minutes, distracting the living hell out of me with their giggling and gossip, then, eventually, the boy will leave. Alas, it’s not over yet. Once the boy is out of ear shot or, even better, out of the library, the two girls proceed to scrutinize what all he said. They go on discussing the discussion they both just had with this boy for the next twenty-ish minutes.

 

I’ve decided that no one really studies in pairs anymore. It’s just a weak attempt to combine your social life with your academic.