The Night Owl

As i write this I am sitting at a computer on the ground floor at the back section of the UEL library. My back is facing the back wall of the building near the fire exit and in front of me I can see the span of whole library. I can't see anyone on the upper floors and I can't really hear anything except the occasional rustle of someones jacket or bag or the odd sigh or sniff. It is 3:45am. I plan to spend around half an hour here to see what the UEL library is like at night. I will be recording my observations. The library is very quiet at this time, I can see four people sitting at computers, all very spread out. I notice at night, even more so than during the day- people spread themselves out in terms of where they sit. There are three females and one male in the central area of the ground floor. Lets begin with the male, he is sat the furthest away from me- closest to the library entrance. This young man has tanned skin and dark hair and he is slightly overweight. I notice he is wearing a black coat with a JD sports bag across his body as if he's packed up his things to go home however he is working away and doesn't seem to be ready leave any time soon. He is also wearing dark blue jeans and white Nike trainers. He occasionally yawns and looks tired.

The first female I see is drinking a can of sugar free red bull- a wise choice for this time of the morning. She looks surprisingly alert and awake and is taking regular breaks from her work to send and receive texts messages. On two occasions she subtly smiles at her texts but I can tell she's trying not to.

The second female I see is just leaving as I write this. She's a small, skinny blonde lady and wears a coat about three sizes too big for her. It makes her look almost childlike. She's carrying a handbag but instead of holding the handle she has it scrunched up in her hand like a carrier bag and she's carrying her phone and ipod in the same hand. She walks briskly out of the library without giving anyone a second look. I think she was in a hurry to leave. At this point the only male is walking towards upstairs leaving his computer unattended and he disappears from my view.

The third female has brown hair tied back in to a ponytail and she has dark circles around her eyes, however she doesn't look particularly tired. If she is, she's not letting it bother her as she seems to be doing a lot of work- typing impressively quickly. She's wearing a grey hoodie and has her brown coat hung over the back of her chair. She's also wearing black boots and leggings. She doesn't seem to be paying attention to anyone else.

It's been about four minutes and the male has come back in to view with two books in his hand. I caught a glimpse of one of them and I think it may have been a journalism book. I couldn't see the other as it was tucked under his arm. He goes back to his computer and reads the first book.

No one has smiled at anyone since I've been here. It's not the first time that I've seen this kind of behavior in the library. Sometimes I forget we're all expected to completely ignore each other unless we know each other. Personally I'd be quite happy if someone I didn't know smiled at me. With this thought in mind I'm going to be leaving the library in a few moments. I'm going to smile at the lady with brown hair before I go as she is opposite me and see what her reaction is. She did it back.

Well at least I know I'm not invisible. That will be all.