As many of you know, I access the internet from the public library.

In MY day (feeling ancient), you were supposed to maintain a low conversational tone in the library. Silence was enforced by bun wearing librarians who could floor you with a look from 50 feet away.

Not anymore. Now, I'll be sitting at the computer minding my own business and suddenly I'm regaled with details of Aunt Edna's kidney surgery that probably could have waited until the person found their way into the foyer, or, in this library's case, the lovely albeit underused courtyard.

What really gets me, though, is when I will chuckle in response to a comment they make (or make some other response indicative of my hearing them). Inevitably, I will be met with a glare that is unmistakably meant to convey their annoyance at my "intrusion".

First of all, cell phone conversations don't belong in the library. Period. A small minority of people actually NEED their cell phones at all times; oddly enough, those are the people who usually keep their calls relatively private. Second, if you are having a phone conversation and speaking loud enough that I can't help but hear,I am NOT eavesdropping. I should not be expected to remove myself from the room (or the aisle at the supermarket, while we're on the topic), while you carry on an intensely private conversation that's really not appropriate to a public place.

Long story short: It's YOU that has the bad manners, not I.