05 September 2009

Eden and Privacy


The thing about living in a college is that you can never be sure when you're being seen or overheard, and you have to assume that you are pretty much always being one or both.  This means that pretty much the only non-personal spaces in which you can safely have private conversations are the gardens: there, you can always see who's coming, and if you stand in the centre you can be reasonably sure you won't be overheard.  This means that as I walk around this campus I pass through several garden areas where I have had significant conversations.  An odd experience.

I just recently found out that, in fact, the likelihood of being overseen, at least, is larger than I imagined, because it turns out that there are CCTV cameras everywhere.  No wonder the porters know everything.  This means that the only really private place on campus is someone's room - although even then, if the person has a sharp-eared or determined hallmate, I'm not sure.

I must remember that if I'm going to do anything I don't want overseen I need to do it off campus.

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