There's a crazy dynamic in the main Columbia University library that I don't think exists anywhere else, and always shocks other people when I tell them about i

There's a crazy dynamic in the main Columbia University library that I don't think exists anywhere else, and always shocks other people when I tell them about it. Columbia is super space constrained, and during heavy study times there simply aren't enough chairs in the library for everyone who wants to study there to do so. People get up early just to take their books and their laptop to set them on a table or desk. You can walk through the library and though every single spot is occupied with stuff piled up, you'll generally only see about half of them with actual people there, sometimes way less. And are you going to move someone's stuff and put your own down? What if they just stepped out? What if they come back while you were doing it? You know most people are being assholes about it, but clearly you shouldn't have to pack up to get a drink of water. It's a bad bit of game theory. And people leave laptops all the time, for days on end. You going to mess with someone's laptop just to get a seat?