A note for students studying in public places

It was 6pm on a Saturday evening and I was in a McDonalds at Raffles City. The weather was pouring and the place was crowded. A group of 4 women, having just purchased their food, were stranded in the middle of the restaurant with trays-in-hand, but no available table. The women obviously weren't Singaporean and they looked like they were tourists visiting Singapore.

A McDonalds staff member immediately came to their assistance. He approached a group of 2 students who had their notes and textbooks sprawled over a four-seater table and told them to leave (politely of course). The students eventually did but I wondered if the women would develop an image of Singaporean students as being not-so-considerate.

The first thing that came to my mind was: what a bunch of airheads. Dinner-time. Saturday evening. McDonalds in City Hall. Studying whilst occupying seats meant to accommodate twice the number of people. You'll never get away with that.

However, I suddenly remembered a blog entry that I wrote in September (10 places to study other than at home) and it killed me to realize, that by listing fast-food restaurants as one of the alternate places to study, I was, to a tiny extent, actually propagating such inconsiderate behavior. Damn! And all I wanted to do was provide a list of alternative places to study for students who don't have a conducive home environment.

Lesson learnt: if you are one of those students who like to study in such places, be sure to exercise some discretion. While it is important to study hard for exams, it is also equally important to exercise basic social graces.

And if I were to add another suggestion, paying for membership to use the community center study rooms will actually be cheaper than buying multiple drinks in fast-food restaurants over the long haul.