Brown spots in a sea of white

I haven't worked in this area of town since January 2000. Today I was reminded of how corny some people can be. As I stood in line, waiting to order a sandwich; the conversation of the couple behind me was sickening.

She went on and on about how bad her day was going, what a terrible boss she has, she's stuck wearing a turtleneck sweater on a warm sunny day. The worst, " Oh Baby, my day just got so much better when I saw your face." His reply, " I know, you sounded so down on the telephone and now you sound so much better."

While searching the stack for a book, a gentleman approached me as he exited the men's restroom. I really wasn't paying him any attention, because I was frantically searching for a book while the patron was on hold. As he zips his pants, he tells me how nice it is too see a sister at the reference desk. He said that it is always a bunch of other people and he was glad that I was there. I looked him in the eye and said that they were a few of us sprinkled here and there.

The new location

I started at the new location yesterday. So far, it is similar to my days as a commutiy college reference librarian. I really like the three hours of reference work per day. By the time you've started to tire of the internet/computer questions, it's time for someone else to takeover the desk.

I have a cubicle again. I haven't had one of these since the late 1980's. You know I am old!! Do you remember the touch tone telephones that resembeled the rotary ones? Well, I have one of those on my desk. No more caller i.d., I know I will miss that a lot. I will have to find some way get one from the I.T. department. After being exposed to caller i.d. at work, I don't know how I will live without it.

This is it y'all

I attended my last monthly meeting of the children's librarians. It felt good, knowing that I won't be required to attend them anymore. I don't hate them, it's just that they last so long. I will still be required to attend monthly meetings in my new post. I hope they don't last half as long as the one for children's librarians.

I start my new job this Sunday. I am sure that I will catch up on my days off some time. This month, there have been weeks when I didn't have a day off. There have been weeks where I only had one day off.

The day has been running smooth so far. Then again, school is still in session. We are fast approaching 3:00 p.m. and I am sure that the race will be on. They burst in here trying to see who will reach the computer first.

Don't you just hate nicety people

This woman was in here on the prowl for people to sign her petition. I am guessing that she gets paid by the amount of signitures she receives per day. As I passed her on my way to the restroom, she asked me to sign her petition. I simply said, " I don't sign petitions."

This is the same woman who was rolling her eyes at me last week. She came in here Thursday to use the computer. It being Spring Break, they were full with teenagers. She saunters over to my section and asks, "If this section is only for children, why is it empty and they're all on the adult side?" I told her that the age limit over here is 12 years of age and those boys that she is calling children are actually 13 or older. She made that sucking noise and walked away. For the duration of her time in the library, she rolled her eyes at me each time she saw me. It continued on Friday. Of course she arrived after the teenagers, so she was mad once again. She proceeded to roll her eyes at me for the second day. I didn't pay her any attention.

I know she thought that I was just being mean today. She had the nerve to be smilling in my face as she asked me to sign her petition. This is the same woman who sends her BAAD TWIN GRANDSONS here when they have gotten on her last nerve at home. WHAT MAKES HER THINK WE WANT TO BE BOTHERED WITH 2 MORE BAAD CHILDREN?????

She tells them they have to call to find out if it is okay for them to return home.

Here we go

My boss is back from her vacation today. It's already started. She announced to me at 10:20 this morning that she will be leaving at 1:00 p.m. The pretext is that she is going to some church to look at their library. She said, " You can either take your lunch earlier or later." I normally take my lunch in between 1:00 and 1:30 p.m. So earlier means before noon and I don't know what later means because she didn't say what time she would return. You know this means there is a possibility that she will be gone for the rest of the day.

My last scheduled preschool storytime was today at 10:30 a.m. The sun is out and it's kind of warm. It was a no show. Then, at 10:50 a.m., my sister's neighbor showed up. She has a daycare and she brought two children. I read them two books and talked with them for a while.

THREE MORE DAYS AFTER THIS ONE IS OVER!

The countdown has begun

4 more days to go. This moring as I waited for the Tech to open the security gate, I was approached by a woman. She introduced herself as Sister something, I don't remember. She went on to tell me that she was sent by God to spread his word. She asked me if I had repented. That was all she needed to say. I started making my way to the security gate before she finished her last sentence. I thanked her for sharing and kept it moving. If I am not trying to hear the Jehovah's Witnesses who stand outside the library everyday, you know that I was not trying to hear what she had to say.

There is a man who comes in here periodically. All he does is sit in front of the library catalog. We can guess that he is searching for books, but we don't know for sure. He asks each time he enters the library if that is the only catalog that we have. We all know that he knows that there is only one online catalog up in here. Today, I was given a full whif of his lovely essence. He walked all the way over to my desk to retrieve a piece of scratch paper. Regardless of the fact that he passed at least two other scratch paper dispensers that are full. CAN YOU SMELL CIGARETTES, ALCOHOL, AND JUST PLAIN OLD FUNK. He looks old, but with all that facial hair you can never tell. His hair and beard are so long that they look as if they have grown together.

This keeps popping in my head

A patron called Tuesday morning. The telephone rang as soon as we opened the door to the public. The patron asks "What time does the branch open?" I answer, " 10:00 a.m." The patron then asks what time the main library opens and the closing time. I tell him that it opened at 9:00 a.m. and it closes at 8:00 p.m. The patron then asks me why our libraries open so late in the morning. I explain to the patron that this is a public library. The patron goes on to tell me that he is on Spring Break and needs to do some work at the library, but he wants to do it earlier in the morning.

I explained that university and community college libraries usually open a bit earlier than public libraries. It seems as if we can never do enough.

Seeing things

Yesterday, a woman came into the branch wearing a shower cap. I know you remember people wearing those things supposedly to preserve their Jerri Curls. Well, I chalked that sighting up to the rain.

Lo and behold, there was another sighting while walking to work today. There was a man working on his van about two blocks from here. When he emerged from under the hood, why did he have on a pink shower cap. It is bad enough that he had on a shower cap, but a PINK one.

I have officially become a computer police officer. Spring Break has turned me into this. Monday near closing, I found a boy that I suspected of hacking into the system. It was too late in the day to conduct the required research to prove it.
Yesterday, I found a family of violators. I am sure that they have been getting away with this for a while. When my boss is here, I don't worry about the adult section or the adult computers. Well, they had been sitting a bit too long at the computer terminals and the adults were getting restless.

I went into the computer administration program and discovered that they used up their alloted 1 hour. They had begun using the library card numbers of family members to gain more computer time. This is considered identity theft by the Library Administration (I know, I sound like a nerd for real.) This causes problems with other patrons because you have a group of teenagers hogging the adult terminals. They are too old for the children's computers, but adults see them as children.

I STOPPED THE MESS AT THE DOOR TODAY. The group of boys arrived at 1:00 p.m. when we opened. As soon as they entered, I told them that they could only use their library card numbers for internet access. I also told them that if I caught them using anyone else's library card number, they would be banned from computer usage throughout the library system. They were gone before 2:30 p.m.

Seeing things

Yesterday, a woman came into the branch wearing a shower cap. I know you remember people wearing those things supposedly to preserve their Jerri Curls. Well, I chalked that sighting up to the rain.

Lo and behold, there was another sighting while walking to work today. There was a man working on his van about two blocks from here. When he emerged from under the hood, why did he have on a pink shower cap. It is bad enough that he had on a shower cap, but a PINK one.

I have officially become a computer police officer. Spring Break has turned me into this. Monday near closing, I found a boy that I suspected of hacking into the system. It was too late in the day to conduct the required research to prove it.
Yesterday, I found a family of violators. I am sure that they have been getting away with this for a while. When my boss is here, I don't worry about the adult section or the adult computers. Well, they had been sitting a bit too long at the computer terminals and the adults were getting restless.

I went into the computer administration program and discovered that they used up their alloted 1 hour. They had begun using the library card numbers of family members to gain more computer time. This is considered identity theft by the Library Administration (I know, I sound like a nerd for real.) This causes problems with other patrons because you have a group of teenagers hogging the adult terminals. They are too old for the children's computers, but adults see them as children.

I STOPPED THE MESS AT THE DOOR TODAY. The group of boys arrived at 1:00 p.m. when we opened. As soon as they entered, I told them that they could only use their library card numbers for internet access. I also told them that if I caught them using anyone else's library card number, they would be banned from computer usage throughout the library system. They were gone before 2:30 p.m.

Rainy Days

I love rainy days. I really enjoy them when I am able to lounge in bed. I prefer a good storm over this light rain that we are currently experiencing. I really love waking up on Tuesdays and it's raining. This means that maybe, just maybe, there won't be an audience for storytime. If I haven't mentioned it before, I HATE STORYTIME. I hate reading picture stories and I hate singing the songs that go with them.

Now you know a little rain didn't stop the MYSPACE faithfuls. They were at the door waiting for us to open at 10:00 a.m. And you thought SPRING BREAK was going to hold them back. That is a horrible addiction. The computer would not be the reason I left my warm bed on a rainy day.

I had to kick a CRAZY woman out of the branch this morning. I told her about eating in the library yesterday. As I finished helping a patron, I noticed her happily eating her chips in the adult section. Today, she decided to sit in the Teen Section, which is in a secluded corner. Once again, I heard her munching on some chips as I was walking by. This time, I told her that she would have to leave. She had the NERVE to ask me why. I told her that since I informed her of the policy yesterday and she decided to violate it today, she would have to leave. Another patron went on to tell me that the same CRAZY woman had entered the library CURSING like a sailor.
I HAVE A LITTLE OVER A WEEK TO GO!!!!!!

Do you ever wonder about alcohol?

As I was opening the gate this morning, an old alcoholic asked me what time we opened. I told him 1:oo p.m., and he proceeded to tell me that I was looking good this morning. He had on his flip flops and was on his way to the liquor store(it was about 9:10 a.m.) I failed to mention that there are two liquor stores within walking distance of the library. One is on the same side of the street, and the other is across the street. *** Yes, he did have on white tube socks with the flip flops***

When I went out to get my lunch, I noticed that there were two empty liquor bottles in paper bags surrounding the lamp post directly in front of the library. My co-worker said, " Now, you know you are in the ghetto when you see the liquor bottles in paper bags placed standing up on the street."

MY LEAST FAVORITE QUESTION OF ALL TIME************

Do you work here? You walk up to my desk, where I am sitting typing on the computer, there is a telephone and various information for the public. Do you think that I am here for my health? How many grown folks sit in the children's area alone, at a desk with a computer and a telephone?

I told him, "No." He then said, " Oh you don't?" In response, I told him that I did work here. He went on to tell me that he wanted to get on www.craigslist.com. I told him that he was welcome to get on the internet, all he needed was a library card. He told me that he didn't have a library card and asked what he needed to do to get one. I explained that he needed to fill out an application. He took an application and told me that he would come back later. All I said was, " You do that." My responses may have been wrong, but I am tired of stupid questions. I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, THERE ARE SOME STUPID QUESTIONS!

Wow, it's been a while

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I entered a post. We were informed that the police finally picked up that BAAD child. The woman who gave us the news gave the impression that she sought our sympathy. She said, "They finally arrested him and he's in the Juvenile Detention Center." We know good and well where they send the "Billy Bad A$$es" of the world.

Why would she expect us to feel sympathy for the "care givers" of a boy who was allowed to run wild in the streets. They were informed of his misdeeds and he was not punished. Community members were fed up and finally reported his actions to the police.

Other than that, it has been a pretty normal day. My boss was 30 minutes late. Her excuse was her meeting at the main library this morning. Those meetings only last 1 1/2 hours, but she doesn't know that we know that. That's okay, when management calls looking for her, we tell them exactly what she told us.

We all know the Bay Area doesn't get that cold. Definitely not cold enough to wear a bomber hat. There had been one guy in his early twenties walking around in a leather bomber hat with rabbit fur lining. I have seen him sporting the hat since mid January. Rain, sun, hot, or cold, he can be seen sporting that hat. I chalked it up to him being weird. Today, a different guy comes in sporting an all white rabbit fur bomber hat, t-shirt and sweatpants. The current temperature is 57 degrees. I guess walking around the neighborhood in the same thing for a few months will make someone think that it's the thing to do/have.