It happens every year and I still haven’t gotten used to it. One week before the semester ends, all of the dumb people come out of hiding because they decide now would be a good time to care about their grades. Well excuse me, stupid, but you’re taking my seat in Starbucks.
I’m not going to pretend I’m one of those people who quizzes myself on the fundamentals of accounting every night before bed. Let’s face it, studying and I never really went well together. However, I do have posts to write and interviews to conduct each week. Where do I go to do those things? A coffee shop. It’s so cliche and writer-esque that it feels natural – like I’m home. Now, one week before University of Delaware’s finals, my home has been invaded like rats encroaching upon an NYC sewer. Do you know how long it took me to find a table to write this post? A long ass time. I’m pissed.
Magically, at the end of every semester, you begin to see exactly how many students you go to school with. The waiters who know your name and order at the quaint coffee shop on Main Street have forgotten you entirely because they’re swarmed with random people trying to cram three months worth of information into eight days.
Everyone is grumpy because they’re sleep deprived and because it’s finally nice out and they’re stuck in Starbucks writing papers they probably won’t be able to finish in time.
All of the regulars get booted and it’s not fair! I know I’m complaining, but the reality is: I’m graduating. I would like to sit at my little table in the coffee shop everyday this week because I can. Two weeks from now, after graduation, sitting at the coffee shop won’t even be a possibility. So excuse me, Freshman-Who-Was-Too-Cool-For-School-All-Semester-Until-Now, move!
The invasion didn’t just happen to my coffee shop. The regulars at the library are suffering too. Personally, I don’t go there because I think it’s too quiet and I can’t focus, but what about the people who have been studying there all year round? Now they have to either get there at the crack of dawn just to find a desk or think of studying areas elsewhere on campus. The student centers become filled to capacity, and even student health becomes a crazy disaster when stress begins to break down the student population.
All I want is to find a nice place to sit, eat lunch and get my work done – because yes, as a journalism student you have to work all semester and not just during finals week.
I think we should establish a rule. If the man behind the counter at Dunkin’ Donuts knows what you typically order, you get first preference for a table. If only the bartender at your local pub knows your face then you should study there. Take that, slackers.
