The main reason for this post is to have an entry entitled “Bad Gas.” Unfortunately though, it doesn’t end there and no, it has nothing to do with me and how I went to “Taco Tuesday” last night at a local joint. Rather, upon arriving at the law library this morning, as I went to my usual section, I was confronted with wave after increasing wave of out-of-control flatulence. It was very evident and offensive to probably a good quarter of that floor of the library. It was clear this was not a one time offensive, but rather a war waged against the normally nondescript and static air of the what I consider to be the best place to study in the library.
I was actually tempted to abandon my default arrangement and seek alternate accomodations despite the normal place’s close access to a cell phone friendly room, a lack of wild temperature variation, proximity to a bathroom, and a window view for procrastination. Luckily for me, as soon as I walked past a certain threshold of that area - a parallel of the war zone if you will - I was rewarded with recycled, but odor-free air again. I guess I could probably imagine who was super nervous about a final and just had to continuously let go based on where the change occured, but what the hell. I just couldn’t believe there were a lot of other people in the line of fire who hadn’t moved. Maybe they grew accustomed to the stench?
Speaking of stale, last night I was in the above mentioned bathroom when all of a sudden I hear the unmistakable sound of a lighter being ignited from inside one of the stalls. Within seconds my nose drew in the initial wafts of cigarette smoke and a moment later I saw a thin line of smoke dance its way up to the light above the offender’s toilet. I normally don’t really give a crap what anyone else is doing except for as I watched the line of smoke while drying my hands, I also saw how close it was to a smoke detector. In fact, as the smoke hit the light, it started to careen off of it and billowed out to occupy more of the ceiling, including a couple of swirls around the intake ducts of the alarm. Great asshole, set off the sprinklers and douse my laptop and notes in water because you can’t take a timeout long enough to crap and then go smoke outside.
Anyway, I just walked out and went to unlocked my computer so that I could pack it up as quickly as possible should it start to sprinkle. I think the guy who walked into the bathroom and then immediately ran out and downstairs, as I was on my way out, took care of being a tattle-tail since he was headed towards the front desk area. Ultimately, it didn’t rain and I have two days to go until my last final of law school.
-jd
P.S. The above link in the second paragraph where I talk about recycled air is a reference to a great Postal Service song that has pretty much been my theme when spending long period in the library since 1L.
