COLUMN: Chug it or throw it out
The Charles V. Park Library on Central Michigan University’s campus is a beautiful place to unwind, work on assignments and throw back a few cups of coffee, right?
Wrong.
They would never dare let you bring an “open” container into their state-of-the-art landmark.
I understand the library is fancy. It’s a real nice place. I even appreciate the mirrors on the ceiling of the elevators; high-class stuff.
It’s one of the buildings on campus that caught the eye of my high school nerdy self while on the orientation tour.
But, all of that means nothing to me when I get yelled at for bringing my coffee into the building.
As someone who prefers to zone out in my bedroom or at Kaya Coffee House to write papers or articles, I wasn’t aware of the “rules” the library has set for us, apparently, children.
After telling my friend I was going to get coffee in Java City located near the first floor of the library, she informed me the “library police” will tell me to throw it out.
I thought she was crazy.
But to take precaution, we both bought our iced coffee and hid it in our backpacks as we walked up to the third floor and nestled into our study room. If the jiggling ice while walking across the library didn’t blow our cover, then my obnoxious laughing about it must have.
Let you be told, five minutes and five sips after pulling my coffee out of my backpack, we had a knock on the door telling us to chug it down or throw it out; library rules.
And that’s when the Facebook and tweeting outrage started on my part.
Although many things distract me during homework sessions, using social media to release my anger about the library should not be one of them.
I pour thousands of dollars into attending this university, and they are going to tell me I can’t drink out of a cup with a straw and lid in a room with no technology and only a couple of chairs and a cold table?
I’ll admit, I am a sloppy eater sometimes and I can be clumsy, but I know how to sip out of a straw. Hell, I can even drink out of a can without spilling it. It’s magical, I tell you.
I understand there are fancy old books and nice computers they want to preserve for years to come. But the only thing I could have spilled my iced coffee on was MY laptop or MY books at the place I was sitting.
Sure, I can bring a thermos with a closeable lid or a bottle with a screw top into the library. Those have no way of spilling when I take the lid off. Even if I did do that, I feel like mom and dad will come walking by telling me to reseal it before I have an "oopsie."
Maybe prohibiting drinks at the computer stations is an acceptable policy, but when I am at an empty table with the only hazardous thing being my homework, I should be able to enjoy my overpriced coffee.
