No escape

The problem with a college town is that too many people here are students!

When I was in the city over Thanksgiving, I was determined to get some work done on Saturday night, so I went to a Starbucks a couple of blocks from my parents' apartment...and I did! Granted, I stayed there about six hours, but I got more work done in that time than I've been known to do over a whole weekend (which is an entirely separate, much-too-well-known story). Anyway, I decided I needed to find a similar place here in Ithaca. The only problem is, everyone here is studying! The reason Starbucks was so conducive to getting work done was because it was a public place (so I would have looked rather foolish playing computer games or doing some of the other inane things I have come up with to waste time), I had no internet access, and the atmosphere was relaxed. People there were reading, writing in journals, chatting, doing professional work, listening to music. The fact that I happened to be doing schoolwork was my own business. Here, everyone knows what I'm supposed to be doing, because they're all supposed to be doing the same thing, and either they are or else they're procrastinating, which is what I'm not supposed to be doing (but am). The tension is everywhere, and I feel like people are looking over my shoulder to see whether I'm being good or bad (even though I know they're not). I wish there were someplace here where I could feel visible without feeling watched. But I'd better make do, I guess, because my final is tomorrow morning.

All right. Ready, set...GO!