Traffic and Libraries

I'm beginning to think that libraries, in the traditional sense, are becoming outdated... the last few days I've been enduring sitting around the library, and rather than die of boredom I've been people watching. I've seen maybe 20 people looking at books... and easily over 500 working on computers. Obviously, this includes myself. I've seen more people checking out movies from the library than reading, much less checking out, a book.

Seems libraries have just become a quiet place to escape from everything to work on this or that, so couldn't we save some money by just having a quiet building with plenty of seating or desk space? Books could be brought in overnight for those random few who need them, assuming they aren't already digitized. And yes, even though I'm an author, I just said that. Feels a little conflicted. But hey, I'm fine with people reading digital copies. Why not, it's what my proofers use.

On the other side of that is one of the banes of my existence: traffic. I remember, back in the dark ages, when I had to get my license you had to do things like learning traffic laws, taking road tests, etc. Crazy stuff like that. Now judging from the way people are driving, at least around this town, I'm assuming you're required to fail both tests and/or be legally blind to get your license. I know people are worried about drunk driving, texting while driving, talking on the phone while driving... how about worrying about people being capable of actually driving before worrying about other factors. And no, contrary to popular belief, having a larger car does not excuse you from having to learn how to drive the thing. On second though, maybe these people learned to drive from playing racing games on PS3. In the real world, it's not losing on your score that you have to worry about.

Anyway, just some randomness... it's back to browsing on my computer. At the library. I am a stereotype here. Save me.

On a side note, I find it hilarious when people around you are talking on the phone or to someone else in a foreign language and assume you can't understand them. You pick up on the most interesting things.