So I went to the law school library to study. There are three floors, you enter through the third floor (the second floor of the overall building) and there is a ground level floor and a basement floor beneath it. The other floors have their own exits, but these are for emergencies only and trigger the alert. That doesn’t make a lot of architectural sense, but I didn’t build the place.
So there are small tables for one person and large tables for two persons, most tables are for two persons. The latter have two seats two adjustable lamps and two power sockets, while the former have only one of each. I’m bit late and all the large tables that I can see are already taken, but I don’t check every single table in the library on all three floors. I didn’t check the basement floor, which is not as nice in terms of lightning and air. The books I need are on the second floor. So I sit down on one seat on a table in the second floor where the other seat is already occupied. That person is currently absent, but he left his notebook and books there. I lay out my books, taking care that my stuff doesn’t cross the centre line.
Five minutes or so later the other guy returns and protests that he was away for but twenty minutes. I point out that his seat is free, he replies this isn’t common. Feeling slightly baffled I tell him the library is full. He leaves and a few minutes later returns and grabs his stuff, apparently he found a free double table somewhere.
Now, yes, naturally everyone one wants a double table for themselves to have more room for their stuff, and it is in fact rare to see two people on one table. Still, you can’t have that be your expectation if the place is filling up. It’s unreasonable, in my view, to think the place should operate at half capacity at all times when most of the tables are clearly designed with two people in mind.
Comments
^^^^AUTOMOD Thanks for posting! READ THIS COMMENT – DO NOT SKIM. This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read this before contacting the mod team.
So I went to the law school library to study. There are three floors, you enter through the third floor (the second floor of the overall building) and there is a ground level floor and a basement floor beneath it. The other floors have their own exits, but these are for emergencies only and trigger the alert. That doesn’t make a lot of architectural sense, but I didn’t build the place.
So there are small tables for one person and large tables for two persons, most tables are for two persons. The latter have two seats two adjustable lamps and two power sockets, while the former have only one of each. I’m bit late and all the large tables that I can see are already taken, but I don’t check every single table in the library on all three floors. I didn’t check the basement floor, which is not as nice in terms of lightning and air. The books I need are on the second floor. So I sit down on one seat on a table in the second floor where the other seat is already occupied. That person is currently absent, but he left his notebook and books there. I lay out my books, taking care that my stuff doesn’t cross the centre line.
Five minutes or so later the other guy returns and protests that he was away for but twenty minutes. I point out that his seat is free, he replies this isn’t common. Feeling slightly baffled I tell him the library is full. He leaves and a few minutes later returns and grabs his stuff, apparently he found a free double table somewhere.
Now, yes, naturally everyone one wants a double table for themselves to have more room for their stuff, and it is in fact rare to see two people on one table. Still, you can’t have that be your expectation if the place is filling up. It’s unreasonable, in my view, to think the place should operate at half capacity at all times when most of the tables are clearly designed with two people in mind.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our voting guide here, and remember to use only one judgement in your comment.
OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I think I might be the asshole, because I broke an unspoken rule and another person felt they had to move on my account.
Help keep the sub engaging!
Don’t downvote assholes!
Do upvote interesting posts!
Click Here For Our Rules and Click Here For Our FAQ
Subreddit Announcements
Follow the link above to learn more
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
INFO: can you clarify; were there also no single tables free?
Assuming there weren’t then NTA. They have two seats for a reason.
NTA. Obviously when it’s possible to sit at an empty table, it’s more polite to do that than to sit at an occupied table, but when there isn’t an empty table, you share. I’m a law school grad, we had a mix of large (6-8 person) tables and study carrels, in our law library, which IMO is the way all academic libraries should go because it prevents this kind of conflict. A study carrel is a desk with back and side partitions, so it creates a kind of semi-enclosed private space for each person, they can be in 2 rows pushed up back to back or in individual rows typically with the back against a wall or partition. They make sure each person’s space is protected and make it unquestionable that each one is meant for a single person.
NTA
Anyone that grabs a table designed for two people with two working electrical sockets without any intention to share is selfish. If the other person had needed all of that extra space they would have already spread out their belongings to indicate why they needed it.
NTA
Same rules as anywhere else, the bus for instance.
One person per chair.
If you happen to have no one sitting at the same table then lucky you – but you have no right to demand to be alone. If that’s important go find a table for one.