Malone on the nightmare world of the library

I thought I’d venture to the library to write as it’s more peaceful. It’s not. I may leave for Starbucks to get some peace. A mother has sat down in front of me with a sleeping toddler in buggy, and a massive bag of Kettle Chips. She is crunching her way through them and turning pages loudly of the book.

I understand that parenting a toddler doesn’t leave one much personal time to study – or eat – but really… This is a library! At least in Starbucks the sound of eating and slurping is drowned out by the coffee machine and a condensed chorus of wailing babies.

In the library even this woman’s pencil scribbling is annoying. Every sound is amplified comparative to ‘quietness’ (I can hear babies, typing, coughing, newspaper shuffling and photocopier beeps.) This the most unquiet place. In the library all I can concentrate on are the noises I shouldn’t be hearing.

“She is crunching her way through a massive bag of Kettle Chips and turning pages loudly”

Yesterday I read a Facebook status that bugged me. (I should stop using Facebook but I’d miss out on all those party invites…). My online friend wrote there was a mother on the bus who told her child to: “Seriously, shut-up”. Suggesting that she should ‘interact’ more with the child instead.

While I am sure that there are lots of scummy-mummys who could improve their communication, I couldn’t help but feel this comment appeared a bit judgmental. It’s so easy to judge. It’s easy to look at parents and think I could do better! I commonly find that people without children like to judge us parents. I’m sorry but sometimes there are occasions when children might need to be told to shut up.

In an ideal world we would talk to them with the interest and calmness of a psychotherapist all day long. But this is the real world. You don’t know how hard a morning that mother was having, if she had been up three times in the night and up at 5am, or how naughty that child had been.

You don’t know how annoying buggies are to push about and difficult to negotiate onto buses, and what a palaver just leaving the house with a child is sometimes. Some mums should receive medals! Not judgment and scorn from society.

It’s like everyone has an opinion and they want to share it, offloading on Twitter/Facebook. Instead of sharing judgements maybe we should take five minutes to think about why people do what they do and find some understanding for others. I say that but then the mother opposite is now crinkling open a Milky Bar.

“Shut up!” I think… Perhaps I need to eat myself. I leave the library to eat. “Because I have respect, woman!” I feel like shouting… Instead I walk past and apologise for accidentally nudging her book like the stupidly apologetic person I am. Oh sure, I’ll moan about her on Twitter/Facebook later, yeah, and everyone can validate my annoyance and I’ll feel better. Sorted…