There are times when every twenty-something with a bachelor’s degree gets nostalgic for college. Homecoming weekend, March Madness (only if your alma mater has managed not to suck at basketball) move-in weekend (especially if your younger siblings are going to your school, or to any school for that matter), etc.
But you know what I really miss? Like all the time? Those free, public places that are so common in college – the student union, the basement of the English building, the undergraduate library. They’re almost completely nonexistent in post-college life.
I’ve heard them called second places, and these places rock. I didn’t even fully realize it at the time, but they offered a great escape from the home environment and a change of pace that could spur thought, prod on productivity or inspire calm. Now, just thinking about them makes me homesick for my college days.
Ahh, the days of sneaking a sandwich made from stolen dorm bread and deli meat into the supposedly food-free zone of one of the many campus libraries. Ahh, the days of studying in a place that’s open until midnight, no questions asked, and where coffee and café treats are always for sale, but buying them isn’t required in order to access the Internet. Ahh, the simple days.
I’ve never found a place quite like the student union or the undergraduate library since graduating college almost four years ago (!).
In the suburbs, everything closes at 9 p.m., or earlier if you’re unlucky. The library might be a homeless hangout or a daycare center, depending on where you live. And either way, eating is seriously frowned upon. No one does it. In the suburbs, every Starbucks, Caribou and Panera has “free” wifi and an uninspiring, unoriginal version of that relaxing café atmosphere, but you can’t just waltz right in, fire up your laptop and hang out online to your heart’s content. No, you’ve got to buy food or a coffee to earn the “free” in “free wifi.”
In the city, plenty of unique coffee shops offer organic, vegan and/or range-free products, but again, they come with a hefty price tag when all you really want is an on-the-go Internet connection and maybe a muffin. The local Starbucks is infested with druggies who sit in the corner and discuss their latest score of pills. The library? Who even knows where it is? You’ll find a million schools, plenty of vacant properties, a handful of construction zones and your usual mix of restaurants, bars and Mexican cowboy gear shops, but the library branches sure make themselves scarce.
A place that’s open late, has free admission, Internet, and maybe even a slight atmosphere of camaraderie or shared experience – now that’s something beyond rare in twenty-something life. And that makes me sad.
All I can say is at least I don’t have homework anymore. If I did, I’d miss the union, the undergraduate library and the scattered collections of couches, chairs and desks in the hallways and lobbies of university buildings that much more.
College kids, enjoy your free hangout spaces/second places while you can. And twenty-somethings, get used to your apartment and your friends’ places, because those will pretty much forever be the only “free” hangouts you have.
Twenty-something Times 