To start off, I’m the kind of person that needs silence to concentrate and be able to study, and upon this realization, I gravitated to the silent floors of the college library. There are of course people that disregard the fact that silent floors are meant to be silent, and that there are several other floors available for chit chat and group study. Despite this, you can usually get these people to lower their voices or explain to them that a silent floor means no talking, and some people really don’t know this.

One time I was sitting on a silent floor and this person was speaking to his friend and was speaking fairly loud, to which another person asked them to lower their voices or leave, which ended up in a back and forth of, “Do you wanna take this outside bro?”

Aside from the chit-chatters, I personally have a huge pet peeve with those who eat in the library. And I’m not referring to the people who silently nibble on trail mix or a granola bar, maybe even a donut, because those are generally foods that don’t disturb others and can be kept to the occasional crumpling of paper. More importantly, though, they don’t have a smell that will be wafted my way while studying.

There was this one night my sophomore year that I was silently reviewing notes for an exam, and I hadn’t gone out for a couple of hours. I was counting the minutes to go home and make a delicious meal, instead of spending money on a meal that would surely cost me ten bucks that I didn’t have at my disposal. It was probably around 6 or 7 p.m when the culprit entered the floor with a large box of pizza; ladies and gentlemen this was not a personal pie. I figured alright, maybe she’s just holding it for a friend, she wouldn’t sit down and start eating the pizza, or so I thought.

She proceeded to sit down at a two person table, placed her pizza box down, took out her computer, and at that point I had lost interest and had gone back to my work. That is until the smell of gooey melted cheese, sauce, and the oh so delicious dough smacked me in the face and my stomach let out a large growl. I looked up, and there she was, eating a slice of pizza.

I never despised someone so much than in that moment, and it’s probably why I still remember the scene of the crime to this day. The smell had permeated my senses and I could no longer concentrate on the words in front of me, and I ended up having to leave early. The culprit had disturbed my very productive study session with the smell of the delicious pizza that I couldn’t reward myself with.

This was only the first of many other encounters with these disturbing and deliciously smelling incidents with library food eaters who take residence on silent study floors (which you aren't supposed to be eating on anyway). The person who ate some delicious smelling pasta in front of me; the person who ate a hero and crumpled up the paper that encased it till they finished; the person eating fried chicken; the person eating some type of lo mein; don’t think for a second that you have gone unnoticed.

There are tons of other places to eat and study, why must you impinge upon the precious hours of productive studying that I have with your delicious smelling food? What have I done to you all to deserve this kind of treatment?

Please, I beg of you, put an end to this madness and eat somewhere else. There are tons of other places to eat and study so why sacrifice the sanity of others? Everyone can hear and see you despite your efforts to be quiet; don’t be fooled, just take it elsewhere next time.

Do it for the broke college student in all of us — I beg.