Shortness of breath in the library

There is a charged atmosphere in the library, columnist Giselle notices. And that's not just because of the lack of oxygen.

There is a charged atmosphere in the university library this month. A boy at a computer, judging from his books studying for his secondary school economics exam, keeps spraying perfume. On the stairs a man with a bun runs up to my friend and me and asks whether we are about to graduate, and if so whether we are moving. An unknown student has had Joan Didion’s books for far too long. And just now one of the massage chairs is broken.

There is a charged atmosphere in the university library this month. That is, I hear from the young women behind the information desk, because the ventilation has been damaged by the renovations surrounding the library. Now the library is warm, musty and has less oxygen. They didn’t mention the oxygen, but I feel it when I gasp for breath above my keyboard. I also smell more in the library. It smells of bodies, as a plane can, and sometimes briefly of perfume. Fortunately the boy with the economics books has good taste in perfume.

That there is a charged atmosphere this month becomes apparent when we continue talking to the man whose man bun sits right at the back of his head. He wears his bun neatly, not frizzy or greasy, and it gave his head a classic look. This man, or boy, wants to know whether we might be moving because he needs a house. We disappoint him, and then he tells us that he’s actually already found something in Schiedam, but that there are no furnishings and he finds that difficult. When I ask him if he often begs people for houses, he says no and I start to doubt his intentions. He walks on and my friend says, to my surprise, that this is the most handsome man she has ever seen in the library.

I tell her she could have asked for his number. Four years ago I sat next to a boy I thought very handsome. I left a note on his table with my confession and contact details and walked away quickly. He had a girlfriend, but wished me ‘good luck with the other library boys :)’.

I can tell you anyway that the downside of library boys is that they are ‘too busy’ and prefer to focus on their thesis. There must be a connection between lack of oxygen and frustration. When we collectively don’t breathe enough, we no longer see clearly and do things we can no longer explain outside the library. Even the massage chair can’t cope anymore.