Bravo-- I commend you on a job well done.

It's Wednesday morning, around 10:30am, to be exact, when I roll out of bed. I spend my time getting ready for the day as I don't have class until 1:30pm. Around noon, I decide it's time for lunch. So I make my way down to the nearest dining hall, just across the street. I stop through the main lobby and grab a newspaper. I swipe in and see that my favorite table is empty all while saying hello to the elderly man who runs the register (he's there day in and day out-- and he remembers everyone's name).

I make my way to the aforementioned table and take off my coat. I lay it across the booth and put my fresh newspaper on the table as well. I then go and get a drink and set it on the table-- by the time I get my food, I'm far too lazy to want to get up and get a drink. Oh, and it was Diet Coke, for those wondering. I go and grab a tray. I pass by the salad bar and decide to keep passing-- for the lettuce never really looks to be that fresh at this particular dining court. I go down the line... deciding what I want. Nothing really looks inviting. But wait-- what did I see? All the way at the end of the counter, I see Heaven. Breakfast Heaven. I get out of line and make my way to the area containing potato gems (they're really just tater tots-- do they really need the special name?), mountains of powdered scrambled eggs, sausage links, and a pile of crispy french toast sticks. Delicious. I love breakfast food-- at any time of the day. I get a little of everything and also decide on half of a Swiss grilled-cheese sandwich. I grab a cookie and am on my way (I know I know, not the healthiest of lunches, but I'm in college).

I set my tray down on my table-- wait, this isn't my table. But wait again-- my drink and coat are here. Where is my newspaper? Surely, somebody wouldn't have taken it... I look under the table and on both benches, but to no avail. I look all around me hoping someone is behind me with it saying "You dropped this." Nope. Not going to happen-- I should have known better. But what do I see? Not 10 feet away, at the next table, is some random guy reading my paper. Now, you're thinking, how do you know it was your paper? As soon as I realize he's reading MY paper, his girlfriend looked up at me. We briefly locked eyes. She broke away and said something to her boyfriend. He immediately haphazardly folded up the paper and set it on the seat next to him. Like it was nothing.

Well done, asshole. Well done. I would like to commend you on a job well done. A job well done of ruining my day.

Now, again, I know what you're thinking. It's just a newspaper. But-- it was my newspaper. Do you mean to tell me that, even though you passed a stack of, like 50 newspapers, you couldn't have grabbed one yourself? Sure, maybe you were 10 feet from my table, but you were only 20 from the rack. I just don't get some people today. I ate my lunch without my paper-- and it was disappointing. I just don't know how to explain how angry this made me.

I should have said something, but I thought that maybe he was in an article or maybe something he wrote was published in it. But seriously, what you did was lame.

Come on people, let's try and make courtesy common again.