I have, so I've been told, just committed a grievous sin against my fellow students. I dared to open a book whilst eating my lunch, and was within moments approached by one of the uniformly surly and inexplicably power-hungry food services employee who informed me that "We do not allow studying between the hours of 12 and 2."

"But" I dared to object, "I'm just sitting here eating my lunch, which I bought here and paid for..." I was cut off. "No UBC Food Services outlet" (aka any place you can simultaneously eat and sit on campus, a pairing both my digestive system and common sense view as vital) "permits studying between 12 and 2 so that people can sit and eat their lunches." But I thought that's what I was doing... I was eating by myself, so I thought rather than loudly debating some shoe or reality TV related nonsense while completely ignoring my food, as my fellow patrons were doing virtually without exception, I'd review an article I was assigned to read. This, apparently, was capital W-wrong.

According to the lovely (or see other adjectives mentioned above) food services employee, makes people eat more slowly thus preventing other patrons from having their lunches. I wasn't planning on having this prolong my dining duration, since I had a class to get to anyways. "But," I objected again, "there are still other tables empty." I didn't even get an answer. I was told to put my book away or relocate. I wonder, would I have been evicted for merely eating slowly too? What if I'd been reading a book for pleasure rather than for scholastic reasons? And more importantly, can you really ban studying on campus? Even when the perpetrator is still shelling out way too much money for crappy food while doing so?

And the food really was disgusting.