Three Ten Pictures

You know those cool guys who go to Starbucks to work on their screenplays?  I’m not one of them.  I’m too poor to buy coffee, and too embarrassed to sit there for six hours and then walk out without buying anything.*  So today, I went to the library to write.

I was excited because l hadn’t been to a library since I moved to San Diego–most libraries aren’t open after 6 p.m. (apparently, people with day jobs shouldn’t be reading books).

The building itself was nice: two stories, well-lit, relatively clean.  However, the selection stunk (unless kids still really love those Hardy Boys novels from the sixties).   Also, immediately after entering the building–and this was the big surprise–I felt like I was in a refugee camp.  There were people everywhere–EVERYWHERE!  And their purpose for being in the library was… to play on the Internet.

Thirty or forty public use computers were scattered throughout the building, most in three large rooms.  Inside each room, or near its entrance, were several chairs.  Each computer was occupied by a web surfer.  And every spare seat in the room was occupied by someone waiting in line to surf the web.  There were easily thirty people just sitting around, waiting to use the computer.  The funny thing is, nobody was reading–not even to pass the time.  Everyone just sat there texting, napping, or staring at the ceiling.  I counted at least three kids playing PSPs.  Apparently, the people of San Diego think this building is a free Internet Cafe. What they don’t realize is that the Ancient Greeks actually used libraries to house books, not to send LOL, ROFL, OMG, JK, and NP messages to their friends.  In some countries, I think they still have books in libraries.

George Orwell would be proud.

I trudged upstairs and found a small wooden cubicle tucked away in a corner.  Through the years, elementary schoolers had tattooed it with stick figures and obscenities.  I sat there and wrote until the battery on my laptop died.  Just to feel self-important, I put on my noise-cancelling headphones** and rocked out to Paul Creston’s 2nd Symphony.

San Diego’s library system is a sham.  I mean, seriously, this is ridiculous.  Whatever marketing genius crowned this place “America’s Finest City” needs to walk inside one of these buildings.  I’m not a political person by any means, but something needs to be done here.

Sheesh.

Special thanks to the brilliant Chrysti for the photo used in this post.

*I will, however, walk in to a Starbucks every Tuesday, grab the free iTunes coupon from the register, and walk out.  If I can do it without making eye contact with the cashier, then I’m a success.

**Whoever invented noise-cancelling headphones should get the Nobel Prize or go to Heaven or something.