讨人厌的习惯

　　We live in a world governed by laws, but also common manners that make everybody’s experience a little bit nicer. Unfortunately, some people skirt these common niceties with annoying habits that can just be jaw-droppingly self-centered. Here’s one of the things I personally find the most bothersome. Let me set the scene, you’re at university, sitting in the library along with hordes of other people trying to get last-minute studying in before the final for a class you decided to put off until it was too late. While trying to cram some information about derivatives or Milton or the hippocampus into your brain, you hear people talking at full volume at the end of one of the tables. People are looking at them with expressions of exasperation and desperation while they continue chatting.

　　我们在世间的行为受到法律约束，但那远远不够，日常礼仪的约束才让人际交往更加和谐。不幸的是，有些人的习惯偏偏非常讨人厌，极度自我中心，常常不遵守日常礼仪。说说我自己最讨厌的行为。请跟随我进入场景/想象一个情景，你现在是大学生，和一大群同你一样的重度拖延症患者一起，在图书馆中为了期末考试“临时抱佛脚”。正当你竭尽全力地把导数，或者弥尔顿，或者关于海马体的知识塞进脑袋的时候，你听到桌子那头有人在大声说话。尽管大家都愤怒而绝望地看着那边，那群人却依旧旁若无人地聊着天。

　　西方礼仪禁忌贴士：如何有效利用图书馆

　　What’s so terrible about it?

　　有多糟糕？

　　There are few things I get more annoyed at than noisy library users because they are taking what should be a nice quiet space for – I don’t know – studying and reading, and turning it into their own personal lounge area complete with yelling and loud laughter. It wouldn’t be so bad, but it just seems that these disturbing distractors tend to congregate in the library around midterm and final exam season to try and annoy the most people possible. Another thing that makes me just incredulous at their behavior is the fact that the exit is never really that far away and living in Southern California means that the weather is always fine and nice to hang out in, even at night.

　　很少有比在图书馆发出噪声更令我讨厌的了，把本来用于学习和阅读的安静美好的场所，当成了他们的私人休息室，肆无忌惮地大喊大笑。本来这件事还没有那么糟糕，但是这些恼人的讨厌鬼，专职分散人注意力，似乎总在期中期末季寄居在图书馆，试图打扰尽可能多的人。我对他们的行为百思不得其解的另一个原因，就是他们完全不必呆在图书馆，加利福尼亚南部总是气候宜人，即使在夜间也是适合外出的。

　　How common is it?

　　有多普遍？

　　Studying in the library I’ve had to deal with people talking on the phone like the library was their personal enormous phone booth, howling with laughter at relatively unfunny jokes, and generally being a nuisance to everyone around them. I remember one occurrence when I saw people carrying on a conversation across the library, basically yelling at each other from one end to end. Another incident had the people next to me munching on some sandwiches while talking and laughing like the library was a friendly restaurant environment.

　　在图书馆学习时，我总是遇到一些人，把图书馆当成大型私人电话亭，不停煲电话粥，还时不时因为不太好笑的笑话而大笑，乃至于被周围人一致鄙视。我记得有一次，有些人说着话横穿图书馆，从图书馆这头到那头的路上，基本上一直在和对方大声嚷嚷。还有一次，坐在我旁边的人，一边大声咀嚼三明治，一边讲话大笑，就像图书馆是公共餐厅似的。

　　Who are the worst culprits?

　　谁是罪魁祸首？

　　The thing is, you never know who is going to be a library disrupter: they come in all shapes and sizes. More often than not you’re sitting next to someone who looks like a regular quiet studious person – and then they turn out to be one of the worst offenders.

　　其实，你永远不知道谁会破坏图书馆的安静氛围：各色各样的人都有可能。很多时候，你坐在一个看上去循规蹈矩、安静勤奋的人旁边，可是随后你却发现，他们就是那些最令人讨厌的噪音制造者。

　　How do you deal with it?

　　如何应对？

　　To deal with this problem there are a couple of tactics. Luckily there’s a camaraderie between the other library users who are unwilling listeners to the loud conversation going on around them and there is an unspoken concerted effort to get them to shut up or leave. This can come in the form of dirty looks and shushes from the surrounding people. Eventually, if this doesn’t work, nicely asking them to quiet down or take their conversation outside usually works, but can also be a loud and shouty proposition.

　　要解决这个问题可以运用很多“战术”。幸运的是，待在图书馆的人对周遭喧哗的反感一致，大家齐心协力，通过无声的努力让吵闹的人闭嘴或离开。形式可以是一起给他们脸色看，对周围人说“嘘”等等。最后，如果这没有成功，那么礼貌地请他们安静下来，或者请他们去外面对话，往往能够奏效，不过大声提出这样的提议也可以。