Should We Ban People Who Have a Cold/Flu in Quiet Room in Libraries?

tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 06:43
Last edited 03/01/2018 - 11:57

So after taking a massive career change, I find myself currently in a very heavy study workload. This means self study around 5-6 hours a day on the weekend.

And since I can't study at home as my 3 YO daughter drives me nut. I would go to the quiet room in the nearby library.

And More often than not, there will be one person with a running nose snorting in the quiet room. It's super distracting and disgusting and there's nothing I can do about it(to get them removed).

Maybe people with a runny Bose should be banned In libraries ? :-D

Poll Options

  • 111
    Yes
  • 242
    NO
  • 28
    Bikies
Health & Beauty

Comments

    • diazepam on 03/01/2018 - 20:52
      -1

      Personally, I'd fall asleep within 20 seconds.

  • purplelady on 03/01/2018 - 09:06
    +1

    So does it mean I can't find you when I need to refinance?

    • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 09:07
      +2

      you can find my boss though ;P

  • pegaxs on 03/01/2018 - 09:14
    -4

    Good to see that OP never gets sick. What next? Banning kids on planes cause they make noise? Banning people from coffee shops cause they aren’t making enough noise? Anything else you complain about that you don’t like and want banned? Get over yourself. You make it sound like the library is always like this. Truth is it was more like once or twice.

    It’s a public space. If some entitled person told me that I had to leave because they can’t concentrate because I had a cold and needed to blow my nose every now and then, I would dismiss them like a petulant child, laugh it off and continue to do what I was there to do. Do you think these people want to have a cold? You think they want to be sick? Why is it that what you are doing has any more importance than on what they are doing?

    Better yet, your house is not a public space and you are free to impose whatever rules you like there. How about banning noise in your house. It’s private property, so anyone doing something you don’t like, you can ask them to leave.

    InB4 butt hurt mum says “but but, it’s MY 3yo that is at home.” It was your choice to have a child, it was not a sick persons choice to get sick. Go to bunnings and buy some ear plugs or buy some noise cancelling headphone and play white noise while you study.

    Next thread… OP complains about being asked to leave library because they caught the same cold and had to blow their nose in the quiet area after new ban rules imposed…

    • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 09:23
      +5

      I can't expect a public room which is designated as quiet to be …. quiet? whats the point of dedicate a room in the library to be quiet then?

      when i do my map reading exercise which requires a great deal of flipping map thus noise, i stay clear of the quiet reading room and stick to the general library area(where noise level is higher) to be courteous to other people who want quietness.

      and if i have a cold, i would stay in the general public library area and read. The last thing i want is to disturb others.

      • pegaxs on 03/01/2018 - 09:35
        -4

        Riiiiight… of cause you do… and you don’t do any other annoying things in your life anywhere else. Got it.

        Let’s ban books from quiet rooms. And laptops. And how about mouth breathers. No chairs or tables. Ban headphones as well. How about noisy clothing. Those slurpy/gurgle water bottles, Gone! Just a big room with carpet on every surface and you can go in there and sit in silence.

        It’s a “quiet room” not a “silence room”. It means that people do their best to make as little noise as possible, but there may be some noise. There is no expectation of silence. Just an expectation that people will make the minimum amount of noise that they possibly can.

        If a sniffly nose or the odd cough is that disruptive to you, I would suggest that your 3yo has a greater attention span than you do.

        • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 09:43
          +3

          and there goes the personal attack. what were you saying again? i forgot

        • pegaxs on 03/01/2018 - 09:55
          -3

          if you consider that a personal attack, coupled with your original post, goes to show just how thin skinned you are.

          Feel free to use the report button and tell a mod of the horrendous personal attack you have suffered here.

        • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 10:00
          -2

          @pegaxs: you hurt my feeling deep down inside so bad that the report button won't fix it.

        • pegaxs on 03/01/2018 - 10:01
          -3

          We can fix that… start a new thread and complain that you had your feelings hurt and that you have rights…

        • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 10:06
          +5

          @pegaxs: the post made it to the front page. my pain is gone.yay

        • pegaxs on 03/01/2018 - 10:11
          -1

          Most troll threads do…

        • Moderatorscrimshaw on 03/01/2018 - 10:30

          @pegaxs

          So far the discussion on this thread has been civil.

          If you do not wish to see troll/flame comments, please, do not make any comments that invite such responses yourself.

      • bobbified on 03/01/2018 - 10:17

        when i do my map reading exercise

        You wouldn't need to worry about flipping noises if you used Google Maps!

      • ninetyNineCents on 03/01/2018 - 19:18

        You could just go sit in a park under a tree…

        Most parks are empty weekends.

  • mahazza on 03/01/2018 - 09:14
    +4

    Yeah, great idea, and we should ban the following also to cater for overly sensitive darlings;
    - Heavy breathers
    - Opening of bags with zippers
    - Walking in shoes
    - Turning book pages

  • Fergy1987 on 03/01/2018 - 09:23
    +4

    I wish we could ban people from eating apples and other crunchy items…….

    • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 09:26
      +1

      the library i go to ban food and drink in the quiet room which is a plus

      • Fergy1987 on 03/01/2018 - 09:31
        +7

        Oh I just meant in society :P not in any particular place :P

    • skywards on 03/01/2018 - 10:51
      +1

      ZOMG especially at work, I swear my co-workers play tag team!

      • Fergy1987 on 03/01/2018 - 11:25
        +4

        Yep that's exactly where I get it - I think some of them are eating pieces of concrete at their desks - I don't know what nuts are made of concrete!…..or those people that eat an apple with these HUGE bites…and yet it seems that the apple is never ending because 20mins later they are still chomping on it :P

  • [Deactivated] on 03/01/2018 - 09:52
    +3

    some people are so damn righteous they want life to work like clock work.
    My rights ,my rights, my rights…….

    • pegaxs on 03/01/2018 - 09:58
      +1

      I have rights!
      It’s my right!
      What about my rights!

      What about the rights of the people around them that shouldn’t have to put up with their petulance?

    • tranter on 03/01/2018 - 10:15
      +2

      Yes, this is more of an issue that the OP has, rather than the library.

    • bobbified on 03/01/2018 - 10:19
      +2

      In this day and age, it's called "entitlements"!

      Get it right, sir! :P

      • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 10:22
        +7

        expect a designated quiet room to be quiet is entitlement?

        • bobbified on 03/01/2018 - 10:31
          +1

          Expecting total silence in a quiet room?

          That indeed would be an entitlement! haha

        • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 10:34
          +2

          @bobbified: no no no. odd noise here and there are completely fine. but a snort every 10-15 secs isn't don't you think?

        • bobbified on 03/01/2018 - 10:45
          +2

          @tomleonhart:

          but a snort every 10-15 secs isn't don't you think?

          Admittedly, I probably would find it annoying. But if that's the case, I'd just go somewhere else.

  • peterw1 on 03/01/2018 - 10:16
    +8

    if its a quiet room and people aren't quiet ask the librarians to rename it. They should enforce the rule. I agree with you. Quiet room is for quiet. Its not about rights. Do you see a stop sign and drive through or do you stop? Its not rocket science.

    • bobbified on 03/01/2018 - 10:21
      +4

      Do you see a stop sign and drive through or do you stop?

      Can I make noise while I drive through?

  • DiscoJango on 03/01/2018 - 10:30
    +3

    my observation: the population is continually increasing, and a majority of those people are dumb. get used to it.

    go and watch Idiocracy, sad but true.

    • rompastompa on 03/01/2018 - 11:21
      +1

      Did you see that independent cinemas in America were playing Idiocracy before the Trump / Clinton election?

      Electrolytes, it's what plants crave!

      • DiscoJango on 03/01/2018 - 13:40
        +1

        didnt know that, but thats pretty cool. that he got voted in: uncool. i would rather a gun toting terry crews as president.

  • khomeini on 03/01/2018 - 10:40
    +11

    A salient post, made more so interesting by the fact that people think you are being precious. I don't think you are personally.

    Sound, and repetition in sound for long periods, has and can be used to distract, confuse and “crack” people in the past. This has been the case of various military tactics over the years. The most recent was one used by a certain country which used leaking taps to “crack” it’s prisoners (something minor but not dissimilar to what OP, I’d imagine, experienced with a snort/sniff every few seconds).

    I use the library but haven't used quiet rooms for a long long time and associate them with some light noise, eg. Sniffing/sniffling & whispering are all okay in mine eyes but each to their own. My suggestion, as others have already done, invest in some light noise-cancelling earphones.

    All the best :)

    A couple of articles I just found via Google shows how music/noise has been used by the US

    For anyone interested about the History of noise as a weapon read on…

    • bobbified on 03/01/2018 - 10:55

      Sound, and repetition in sound for long periods, has and can be used to distract, confuse and “crack” people in the past. This has been the case of various military tactics over the years.

      I sit in the office all day long listening to people typing on their keyboards and I'm still sane (well, I think I still am!)

      Sound and its repetition alone won't work - that's just one component of it all. There are other things such as isolation and restrictions on other senses etc that need to all be combined.

      And you're forgetting one huge difference - we have the option to leave the quiet room and/or the whole library.

      • purplelady on 03/01/2018 - 12:43
        +1

        each person has their own sound weakness.

        i.e I didn't mind at all when my smoke alarm ran out of battery and made high pitch noise every 5 minutes, while a friend straight away noticed it when he came over and couldn't handle it.

        I on the other hand, can't handle my colleague's constant desk/drawer banging every time he moves, while everyone else seems to be ok with it.

        So yeah, everyone is different, and I guess OP's weakness is sniffing noise. I have a friend who can't deal with that noise too.

        • bobbified on 03/01/2018 - 12:57

          So yeah, everyone is different, and I guess OP's weakness is sniffing noise.

          Yeh, guess if it's just an individual's weakness, then that individual should move themselves away from the offending noise rather sitting there and expecting the noise to move away from them. haha

  • GarrusVakarian on 03/01/2018 - 10:42
    +5

    here's a $5 solution

    https://www.bunnings.com.au/craftright-ear-muffs_p5820953

    works better than a post on a forum

  • juventino on 03/01/2018 - 10:45
    +3

    you create a designated quiet room in your house !!! and send your missus and kids away (to the library) when you can hear some noise hahaha

    • purplelady on 03/01/2018 - 13:18

      He just has to make sure they go to the library, not shopping centre. It will cost even more ;p

  • dcep on 03/01/2018 - 10:47
    +1

    Just stick a name tag with "Librarian" and boot him out yourself.

    There are no rules but courtesy. Same shit as pushing buckloads trolley towards express checkout lane, or shows up at work with cold/flu to infect others.

    Don't expect courtesy nowadays. Just go fk everyone up where rules doesn't apply, you're all good.

  • MessyG on 03/01/2018 - 10:48
    +7

    I think that no matter where you are, you are going to struggle with noise and there are going to be selfish people. I did the massive career change and had a heavy study load and I have never been more sensitive to noise in my life. I don't think you're ever going to get rid of those noisy people in quiet rooms, they've been there forever. Maybe change libraries? Or if you're near the city, state libraries are good and quiet. Or even a mates place if they're out or something. When the noise is really getting to you, just take a break for a few minutes, take a few deep breaths, let go of the anger, and get back into it. There's a great study break meditation podcast on this website too if you've got some headphones on you at https://www.meditationoasis.com/podcast/

    • [Deactivated] on 03/01/2018 - 14:19

      It's also selfish to think that those people should be banned. It's a public place should it's best to ask the person to sneeze elsewhere.

      • MessyG on 03/01/2018 - 18:04
        +1

        There's a big difference between selfish thoughts and selfish actions though. OP is having a thought and talking about it, the behaviour of some people in libraries is terrible, although I agree, no one should be banned for having a cold in a library.

  • skywards on 03/01/2018 - 10:52
    +2

    Noise cancelling ear/head phones will change your life.

    • wordplay on 03/01/2018 - 21:47

      seconded, don't have to play anything through them, or just play very quiet white noise.
      otherwise find a library with private/bookable study rooms.

  • Magpye on 03/01/2018 - 10:56
    +8

    It appears the OP believes there is a consistent measurement of 'quiet'.
    For some people, that is simply an absence of talking, music, and other commotion; for others, it is a silence that pervades space and time.
    The definitions should have been clarified as such:

    • Before getting to the banning part, did the OP actually check with the library if their version of quiet, matched his version of quiet ?

    • Understand that the room is a 'quiet' room, not a 'silent' room

    • Did the OP consider that their presence could also constitute an annoyance to others - breathing, fidgeting, rustling, thinking hard, sweating loudly

    • Understand that as a communal resource, the library has been paid for by taxpayers. Some of them may even have runny noses.

    • Consider that the issue may be magnified by being in the quiet room. In the more communal areas, the level of noise may mask the occasional sniff, and the OP may find they are able to concentrate better by being able to block out a range of background noise, instead of having a single disturbance highlighted repeatedly.

    • Consider alternatives. A polite but discreet request to the person with the flowing nose, an offer of tissues, buying ear plugs, going to a different library, getting a friend to look after the child. Any of these are options, instead the OP wants the world to comply to their definition of rules, rather than learning to live with/around others.
      Banning is the most extreme action, and shows a lack of maturity and compassion of the OP.

    I understand that for all things GIS, a particular mindset and manner is needed, but realise that most people see that as an anomaly, and that the OP is one who would be considered to be the unreasonable one.
    As such, the OP could easily find himself being banned from the library for being a pest.

    • pegaxs on 03/01/2018 - 14:32

      The hero that we need!

      I wish I could have put it this well across. My only disappointment is that I can only upvote this comment once and not push it to the top of the main page.

      Well said. Have my upvote and may this comment collect many more…

  • Mrbean007 on 03/01/2018 - 11:01
    +5

    Can we ban people posting stupid comments!!!!!!

  • [Deactivated] on 03/01/2018 - 11:09

    Why BAN?
    I say no..
    I understand you are asking Ozbargain for our opinion and it seems you encourage people with a cold/flu to be banned then just go tell the library…

  • [Deactivated] on 03/01/2018 - 11:12
    +1

    PS: Who's taking care of your 3 year old daughter?

    • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 12:19
      +1

      of course she is at home alone

      • [Deactivated] on 03/01/2018 - 12:20

        :(

        • tomleonhart on 03/01/2018 - 12:22
          +1

          joking the missus does :D

        • [Deactivated] on 03/01/2018 - 12:22

          @tomleonhart:
          :)

  • OneJay on 03/01/2018 - 11:26
    +3

    Some Officeworks stores have a meeting room free-for-use. Each and every time I've been to Officeworks I've never seen anybody using them.

    • purplelady on 03/01/2018 - 12:44
      +2

      really? I never know that!

    • Ughhh on 03/01/2018 - 13:06
      +3

      Even if they don't have meeting rooms, just start setting up your stuff on their display tables and grab one of their chairs.

    • juventino on 03/01/2018 - 17:57

      well …time to send missus and kids there I say !!! . nothing beats studying hard at home without any disturbances from your significant others.

  • ihbh on 03/01/2018 - 12:42
    +1

    What's your new career?

    All the best with it.

  • TheBilly on 03/01/2018 - 12:51
    +1

    You should only really care about the things you can control. Its pointless trying to cater the public domain to suit your specific requirements. So in saying that, have ypu considered kicking your 3 year old out of the house instead?

  • havebeerbelywillsumo on 03/01/2018 - 13:00

    Caligula had the answer.

  • petry on 03/01/2018 - 13:38
    -1

    If we excluded poliies with sickness from voting things would be better.

    That would get rid of the terminally stupid who don't know where they come from, and the terminal liars who swear to anything for money.

    ohh wait there'd be no-one left.

  • Spooked on 03/01/2018 - 15:11
    +5

    Noise aside, a sick person should keep their jimmy germs at home, not spread them all other books, tables, doors and keyboards.

    • purplelady on 03/01/2018 - 15:17

      I'm actually surprised seeing how most people are defending for the sick person. Because when I'm sick on the train, every time I sneeze, sniff, or cough, there would be people giving me dead glare. Sometimes they even move further away from me! @_@

      • dengziyi on 04/01/2018 - 17:44

        The only way to not get sick is by not interacting with anyone. Even then, non-sickness will weaken your immune system.

        Getting sick shouldn't be a big deal and if you're sick twice a year or take your flu shots the symtoms will be much weaker.

        Aside from that, consider wearing a face mask because anyone can make you sick.

    • hetzjagd on 04/01/2018 - 14:41

      When I've mentioned someones sniffing to them often the response is "allergies/hayfever" though

  • tommy-darko on 03/01/2018 - 15:38
    +2

    There's a difference between making loud noises on purpose and noises related to illness. I could understand if they were yelling, clapping, whistling, tapping etc but study needs to be done and like you, they most likely prefer to do it in the quiet room. I think you may be over-sensitive to sound, given your child also annoys you.

  • PleasureMe on 03/01/2018 - 16:12
    +1

    Library? I haven't stepped foot into a library since the internet was invented (true story).

  • tristanmarsh on 03/01/2018 - 16:14
    +3

    The kind of thing where it's wrong to do, but wrong to ban…
    Why is it so difficult to instil courteousness in people?

  • kaleidoscope on 03/01/2018 - 16:23
    +2

    Lookout for a decent deal on qc35 or sony’s noise cancelling headsets 😃.

    (Not joking)

    • Cleremy on 03/01/2018 - 17:28

      Aldi's noise cancelling headphones are only $40 but perform quite well as they are an over-ear design. I bought the cheap Sony noise cancelling headphones and they are useless for noise cancellation, as they are on-ear and let in tons of noise.

  • cyrax83 on 03/01/2018 - 17:10

    No, it's a public place. It's not yours. Deal with it or pay for another area to study.

  • Cleremy on 03/01/2018 - 17:25
    +1

    We shouldn't ban them but we should have the courage to talk to them about it or offer them a tissue (while they politely tell us to f… off or whatever).

  • John Kimble on 03/01/2018 - 17:35
    +1

    Would be difficult to enforce, I think it's more a reflection of how inconsiderate others are in today's society…eg if you are sick you should stay home. If have a nagging cough/dripping nose and have to be at the library, then take some drugs to reduce the symptoms.

  • pm88 on 03/01/2018 - 17:56

    I used to be the same in quiet rooms so I can sympathise but I voted no on this occasion. You should consider ear plugs for your studies! Never looked back after I tried them.
    I've found the Howard Leight ones (pink and yellow?) pretty good and comfortable for blocking out my partner who's a snorer and the silence helps zone me in when I need to concentrate

  • freemoneyhunter on 03/01/2018 - 18:50

    You have to be understanding of people, yes they could be banned but what if you had a cold and was sick and needed to desperately study all that day at the library for your test tomorrow or you will flunk it and they kicked you out onto street and said to study that newspaper blowing by in the in the street. You would be shocked and be complaining here about it.

  • TChalla on 03/01/2018 - 19:04
    +2

    I feel like they should be banned from going to work sick tbh. Stuffs everyone up from public transport to work.

  • misu p on 03/01/2018 - 20:28
    +2

    Whoever said "there are no stupid questions" obviously did not have the internet.

  • evie on 03/01/2018 - 22:57

    you should spend more time on OZB and score yourself a pair of QC35

  • cashless on 03/01/2018 - 23:52

    Won’t be long till Xiaomi have a gizmo for “ruddy doses”.
    Connect to offending nose, connect to wi-fi, send nasal viruses back to China and we can all study in library in peace

  • OldSchoolHarry on 04/01/2018 - 00:07

    Easier to spend a couple hundred on good noise cancelling headphones than banning someone from a public place.

  • IzzyBlues on 04/01/2018 - 07:55

    This is one of the funniest threads on OzBargain I've seen so far this year.

    • TheBilly on 04/01/2018 - 11:35

      Surely not, there has been some real quality lately. This is mediocre at best. You should re-evaluate your comedic tolerance threshold.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 04/01/2018 - 08:23

    I went to La Trobe Uni we had 3 levels and a massive library if you didnt like the ppl around you, you just got up and went somewhere else

  • solidussnake on 04/01/2018 - 08:41

    Headphones maybe ?

  • htc on 04/01/2018 - 09:17

    I think you could rephrase your question as, what is a quiet place to study. I was thinking some parks can be quiet. Best wishes in your study.

    • bobbified on 04/01/2018 - 10:24
      -1

      I was thinking some parks can be quiet.

      You'd have to ban the chirping birds in the park! haha

    • Halsmich on 04/01/2018 - 13:37

      Maybe he could study in the toilet. That's where I went to study for about a term since I got sick of the school library, which seemed more like a playground than a legitimate work area.

  • [Deactivated] on 04/01/2018 - 11:04
    +2

    It is a quiet room. If someone cannot be quiet for whatever reason, they should be corteously advised to try the general reading areas.

  • Adz81 on 04/01/2018 - 11:55
    -4

    Couldn't be any more distracting and disgusting than that bloody 3yo that drives you nuts at home… At least you can lock the kid into another room, or in a basement, or a fridge… Whatever.

  • mavis30551 on 04/01/2018 - 12:42

    You should take a box of tissues and passive aggressively shove the tissues under there face when they sniffle.

    Give them the hint, the worse thing is when your in public with a runny nose and have nothing to blow it with.

  • Daniel Plainview on 04/01/2018 - 13:40

    I've read some quizical things before but this just about takes the cake. As the expression goes, "Harden up sweetheart!" ;-)

    • tomleonhart on 04/01/2018 - 13:50

      harden up in which aspect ? :D

      really i was just hoping for people to be courteous ;(

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