My Life Without Loosecubes
Part 2: Can You Talk Louder?
For my second office-less day in the Big Apple, I decided to head to the famous 5th Avenue branch of the New York Public Library. I’m still fairly new to NYC (10 months), so I thought this would be a great chance for me to check out a city landmark and, at the same time, get some serious work done.
Upon arrival, I navigated my way through crowds of tourists and middle school students and bounded upstairs to the renowned Rose Main Reading Room. I had seen it before in plenty of movies and photographs, but none of that really prepared me for how jaw-dropping the room truly is.
I carefully (and quietly) slid into the first chair I could find, plugged in my laptop, and got to work. It quickly became apparent that there would be no talking in this room. Especially when I saw people getting dirty looks from their fellow table-mates for merely closing their laptops too hard. It was right around this time when I got my first customer service phone call. I practically sprinted out of the room, but I had to answer it before I was fully in the clear. ‘I can’t hear you. Can you talk louder?’ said the voice on the other line. That’s when I found the phone booth.
I definitely felt comfortable talking at full volume here, except there was one, tiny problem. The exact location of this telecomm relic is an AT&T dead zone. Go figure. So instead of having to repeat myself in a louder voice, I was just dropping calls altogether. A reminder that the library is no place for telephones.
Luckily, my afternoon wound up being distraction free, and I even conceded to wearing headphones. I was definitely able to get some work done to close out my day, but I had made up my mind pretty early on that the library wasn’t for me. If you’re doing quiet, solo work (writers, students), there’s no better place in the city. Just make sure to bring a warm jacket. It’s freezing in there.
