Studying

I always knew that not everyone saw the world the same way I did, but I at least thought that they would see when they are bothering someone and so would stop doing what is bothering the individual! It is interesting how little and how much we 'see' of others. Typically it is considered polite and considerate to not cause noise when people around you are studying. The same goes for not interupting when another individual is talking and talking louder when told that you have problems hearing and thus can't hear them. But maybe this is just my own views. For a little bit of case analysis, here are two situations that happened today. As background, I had to take a biochemistry test today (which I just failed) so I needed some serious study time.

I started out studying at home, I had everything set up in the front room and was studying with the music to schindler's list playing very softly in the background. My roommate comes home, immediately kills my music and then leaves the room (yes, she did see that I was there). I thought about it and decided that maybe she was having a rough day, so I picked up my stuff and go to my own room so as not to disturb her. I set up once again and put on some light music in the background. Then another roommate comes home and she and the other one start yacking away in the kitchen and hotting and hollering cause of something or another. Considering this is there home too, I decided it would be best if I just went somewhere else, but still they both knew I had a big test, and the first knew I was home studying, why didn't she keep it quiet and inform the 2nd roomie that I was home.

Well, I moved up to the study room in the religion building. More than any other study place, this one tends to be really quiet (even than the library), so I set up camp and started studying. Well, the girl in the table next to mine brings out her lunch. Normally that would be ok, unless that lunch would be a huge bag of carrots and an apple. So for the next 10 minutes all you heard was crunching soudns that were driving me up the wall. Well, then her boyfriend comes in and they start talking for the next 30 minutes or so. By this point everyone in the room is occaisionally glaring at them in hopes they'll realize they are disturbing us and so will leave. Of course they don't realize this. So, everytime they stop talking I would sigh real loudly. That didn't work, so everytime they started talking, I would hum. What was funny was that they then asked me to stop humming cause I was disturbing them. Is that an oxymoron or what. (but plus, what I did was one also) Finally they left after the boy realized he needed to take his test. Never mind the fact that as he was leaving everyone in the room was glaring at him. Did these people just not realize what was going on around them.

I guess politeness is just a lost art these days. I sure don't remember being taught it in grade school. I probably learned from the church, my parents, or just being aware of my surroundings and realizing that some things aren't good to do and some things are. Now don't get me wrong, I am not at all the perfect polite person I wish I was; I interrupt people, I glare at people, I do tons of things that aren't polite, I guess the polite things that I tend to follow most often are those that bug me the most, like disturbing someone who is studying. That is a big no-no in my book, manly cause it takes me forever to get into the mode of studying that I hate being distrubed and thus have to restart. I don't know. I just wish that we focused more on the olden time values that our parents learned, like politeness, and admitting when it was your fault alone when something happens (like that lady with the hot coffee who spilled it and sued McDonalds cause it was hot).

Anyways, be aware of the people around you. Don't always focus on you and thus never see the problems others might have.