Man!!!! It started before I even entered the building today

As I approached the entrance, I saw two of our security personnel with three individuals.

Security was rousing the men from laying on top of the grates in front of the building. One of the men was yelling at security, telling them, "I'M HUMAN, YOU DON'T HAVE TO TALK TO ME LIKE I'M A DOG!!! I'M GETTING UP, DON'T YELL AT ME, YOU AIN'T NOBODY, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A REAL JOB!"

What our "patrons" laying across the grates outside has produced in the past, is foul odors throughout the building. Sometimes, it smells as if the staff area is on fire(because a lit cigarette or cigarettes have been thrown down the grate.) There are other times when it smells as if someone has urinated throughout the building, because you guessed it, they have urinated into one or all of the grates.

I have no one to blame, but myself

Monday November 30th, I volunteered to cook and serve food at a homeless shelter in my neighborhood.
When I arrived, I was told that sign-in wasn't until 9pm. The late time should have been my clue to just drop off the food and leave. I saw quite a few men who visit my floor in the library all day. Thankfully, if any of them recognized me, they didn't say anything.

You'd think that I worked on the third floor

A man approached the reference desk, after looking on both sides of the floor.

Patron: "Where's computer terminal #411?

Me: "On the 4th floor.

The patron once again looks on both sides of the reference desk.(All of the computers
have numbers in the 300's on a bright yellow sign with black numbers.)

Patron: "So, this isn't the 4th floor?

Me: No, it's one more floor up.

************************************************

A woman approached the reference desk and leaned in, as if to whisper.

Patron: " I was in the Art & Music Dept., where I found some books. I asked where
the restroom is, and I was told that it's on the 3rd floor. I now want
the stack of books that I left at the desk."

Me: (I had just arrived at the desk because of a shift change.) "The Art & Music
Dept., is on the 4th floor."

Patron: "Okay, but I still want the books that I left at the desk."

Me: "You were in the Art & Music Dept., where you found some books, and that is on
the 4th floor."

Patron: "Ooohhhh, I'm still on the 3rd floor, and I need to go back to the 4th
floor."

The patron then, turned and walked away.

*************************************

One of the pages who works on the 1st floor walked off the elevator with a truck load of books. He began walking toward the Teen Reference Desk, stopped, turned, looked at me, and said, "THIS IS THE 3rd floor?"Me: "You wanted it to be another floor?"

Page: "I was just on the 4th floor, so when I saw the Teen Desk, I wondered why it
was there."

He has worked here longer than me, so I don't know what was on his mind.

There were numerous patrons who approached me with a call number written on a piece of paper, looking confused. The book they were looking for, was located on the 4th floor. The bad thing was that it was noted on the slip of paper that the book could be found on the 4th floor.

There's an professional org. I bet you don't know about

A man called yesterday afternoon and asked me to get the telephone number for the American Cultur Association. He pronounced it cul-TUR.
Of course I found no such organization. I gave him the number for the Popular Culture/American Culture Association.
The fool called back and said, "I want the number for the Cultur Association. If you don't find it, just give me the number for Georg.ia State University, and they will know what I'm talking about."
I gave him the number for GSU and thought, "Yeah, good luck with that."

My two favorites right now

Last Monday, my coworker went to help a patron who complained about not being able to log onto an internet terminal.
My coworker returned to the desk and said, "The patron couldn't log onto the terminal because the ethernet cable had been unplugged. Another patron using a laptop had plugged the ethernet cable into it.". The laptop patron then asked my coworker what was the problem with him using the cable.

Today
A patron called and asked me to give him the toll free 1-800 number for the state of Washington board of tourism. I returned to the telephone, told the patron that I found the number. As I began, "1-800-544," the patron stopped me and asked, "Is this the toll free number?"

Examples of patrons questioning my knowledge

This past Sunday, 4:45pm, the 15 minutes until closing announcement had just occurred. The public computers had automatically logged off.

A patron approached me at the reference desk........

Patron: "The library closes at 5:00pm today?"

Me: "Yes it does."

Patron: "It always closes at 5pm?"

Me: "Every Sunday."

Patron: "Are you sure that it closes at 5pm every Sunday?"

Me: "Yes, it closes at 5pm every Sunday."

The patron pulled the library newsletter from the reference desk, points to something in the newsletter and says, "What does this S 10:00am to 6:00pm mean then?"

Me: "Let me see what you're referring to."

I reached for the newsletter and the patron pulled it closer to him, out of my reach and said, "Oh, that's for Saturdays from 10am until 6pm."

Me: "Yes, that's what it means."

Yesterday, a woman approached me at the reference desk and said, "The computers still freeze all of the time, something should be done about it! Does IT know about that problem?"

Me: "Yes, they are aware of the problem and this floor is keeping a log of how often it occurs and which terminals."

Patron: "What reason does IT give for the problem?"

Me: "They actually said it's much better than before."

Patron: "You know, every since that virus, the computers haven't been the same. That's when they began freezing all of the time."

Me: "Yes, we are aware of that, that's why we keep a log. We are constantly arguing with them over the problem and we use the log to prove our point.

Patron: "It's not just your floor, it's every floor."

Me: "Yes, I'm aware of that, but our floor is the only one constantly complaining about the problem and keeping a log."

She finally seemed satisfied with my answer and walked away.

Shocked is an understatement

This afternoon, I was walking with a patron over to the ESL section. It was his first visit to the library and he was a bit confused.

As we were passing the online catalogs in the International Center, a patron turns to me and yells, "DON'T BOTHER ME TODAY!!!" I turned to him and said, without missing a step, "OH, OKAY!!!" The patron then turns to me and yells, "I MEAN IT, DON'T YOU SAY A WORD TO ME!!!" To that I replied, "I WON'T!!!"

I had never seen that patron before.

Minding my own business

I strolled into work dreading the day ahead. Three of the security officers began telling me how my name was "all up in the incident report, as 1 of 3 witnesses.". I asked them if they were referring to the "angry black man" from this past Thursday.". They confirmed that it was the same individual.
The patron left my floor and went on to yell and scream on the 2nd and then the 1st floors. Mr. Man has been banned for 7 days, but not before he called PoPo and filled a complaint against all library employees involved in his banishment.

People always want to test you

My last 20 minutes on the reference desk.

A black man leans over and yells at two white men. He told them to be quiet. They kept talking, so the black man yelled at me. He said, "WILL YOU TELL THEM TO SHUT UP?"
I yelled in return, "YOU AREN'T HELPING THE SITUATION BY YELLING!"

At that point, another librarian who wasn't even working reference that hour, stepped to the patron and said, "When you have a complaint, you need to walk to the reference desk and tell the librarian what the problem is. Don't yell at the librarians."

The black man then walks over to the reference desk and asked me to call security. I called security and said, "Can you please send someone upstairs. A patron has requested that security handle this problem."

The security guard arrived and spoke with the black patron and told him that he was being loud and that he needed to sit down.

The patron then asked me to call a manager. I called my supervisor because the floor manager was gone.

My supervisor arrived and told the patron that he had the same problem yesterday. The patron got mad and asked to speak to the head of the library. Well, tonight, the acting chief of the main library is a black woman, and I had a feeling that the patron wouldn't be satisfied with that either.

Throughout all of the mess that the black patron was causing the two white male patron who had been sitting next to him, kept talking at the same low level. We couldn't even hear their conversation at the reference desk and they were sitting not more than 5 feet away.

Radom

I try to start each day new and fresh. Why is it that by the second hour on the reference desk, once again, I've begun to HATE LIBRARY PATRONS?


If I answer your question, DON'T respond by telling me that I'm wrong. I've been doing this for 10 years now, I think I know a little bit more than you about the subject at hand.

Examples:

1) Patron: "There aren't any King James versions of the bible on the shelves with the 200's. I've checked."

I walked with the man over to the section that is clearly marked BIBLE STUDY, and showed him the four copies of the King James version of the bible that were on the shelf.

Patron: "OH"

2) Patron: "There's no call number that starts with the letter B."

Me: That's what is used to identify the biographies. They are shelved in
aisles 8-12.

Patron: "I still don't see where this book is"

I walked with the patron over to the biography section and pulled the book off of the shelf.

No thank you, no nothing.


For those of you in customer service, have you ever had a GROWN A$$ WOMAN give you a sigh and roll of the eyes?

A patron asked my co-worker where the copy room is. My co-worker told her that it is on the other side of the floor and showed her where it is.

The woman looked at her, sighed and rolled her eyes before turning and walking away.

(My co-worker is a Teen Librarian) My co-worker turned to me and said, "Did she just roll her eyes?" I said, "I know you're used to the teenagers and the pre-teens doing that, but yes, she did."

A male patron decided to share his "afternoon delight" with those of us who work on the 3rd floor.(That's a Jeff Lewis Flipping Out reference.)

One of the library pages approached me at the reference desk and said, "There's a man over there looking at porn and masterbating. He has on a green shirt."

No, I didn't go over and investigate. I called security. They came right away. Lucky for us, there was an officer already on the floor. The page went to get her.

By this time, "Ol Boy" had noticed that we were on to him and stopped what he was doing.

The officers escorted the patron down to their office and asked the page to complete an incident report.

Companion pets

I've written about this before, but I have a differnt take on it this time.

I was helping a patron(who really didn't need to be using a computer,) when I walked away from him, a woman asked for my help. I stopped to help her and as I made an attempt to show her what she needed to do, her dog(HUGE MUTT)pushed me out of his way. I was blocking his vision, while trying to aid his owner.

You just never know what you might discover

Yesterday afternoon, a patron brought a library card that had been left at the print station to the reference desk.

My co-worker scanned the card to see if it was valid. She said, "That's differents."

I asked, "What's different?"

My co-worker, "The patron's name."

I looked at the screen...........the patron's first name is OBSESSION......I just had to check the birth year, and it's 1989.

I said aloud, "I wonder what her Momma's name is?"

Completely not work related

This past Friday, I was lounging on the couch watching tv. A telemarketer calls and says, "I'm not trying to sell you anything. This is research about grocery shopping." I say, "Um huh."

Telemarketer: "How many times have you shopped at Food For Less in the last 6
months?"

Me:"Excuse me, which store did say?"


Telemarketer: "Food For Less."


Me: "Oh......I don't shop there EVER!!!"


Telemarketer: "Okay, let me just make a note of that."

****The next thing I heard was a series of clicks. The telemarketer had hung up on
me. I looked at the receiver and thought, "Oh No He didn't just hang up!"

There's a trend with some of my co-workers

There are two individuals who come to mind. One is the resident "druggy," and the other is "Ms. Whiney." Their attendance is so bad, that they have to wait until payday, to see if they have enough vacation or sick pay, so that they can skip work the next day.

This past Thursday, it was Ms. Whiney, but she had company, two others decided to play hookey also. This meant long hours on the reference desk. A man attached himself to me, and everytime that he saw me at the refrence desk, he had to ask me a question. It didn't matter that I could only understand every third word that he was saying. He was so out of it, he would start a question, pause, start again, pause, and then say, "Oh nevermind!" He would then walk around the floor, come back, and start the process all over again. He would alternate between that and going to another floor, then coming back about 20 minutes later.

I just wanted the day to be over in the worst way.

Don't step to me with some mess

I'll start this by saying that a lot of black men, who think they look half-way decent will step to me with some mess at the reference desk. I don't care who you are, I'm going to give you the same amount of service as I give everyone else.

Why would you try to smooth talk a librarian into doing something for you anyway. The computers are free and we have plenty of them.

Tuesday, sometime after 5:00p.m., I happened to be alone at the reference desk. A older black man(60's,) approached me, leaned over the counter and said, "Uh Yeah, who can I get to purchase my airline ticket online for me."

I said, "We can show you how to book a computer, login, and access the website of whatever airline you're using."

He said, "I ain't trying to do all of that. Besides, I ain't talking about today, I can come back another day." I want to avoid the $25 that they charge you over the telephone."

Once again I said, "Any of us can show you how to book a computer. You can even book one up to two days in advance. We can then show you how to access the internet and the airline's website."

Old Dude, "So you saying there isn't anyone that will do that for me? I'm not trying to pay that $25."

I said, "It's extremely easy to book your flight online. The websites walk you through the process. If my Mom can do it, you can do it too."

He said, "Alright, I hear what you saying, but um I'mma come back."

Why me?

The library opens @9:00a.m. I got off the bus abot 11 minutes after 9 this morning. As I was speed walking to the library, one of the regulars on my floor yells, "HEY, YOU'RE LATE HUH!!!". I just nodded my head and said, "Yeah."

What do you mean, you can't eat in the library?

I returned to the reference desk, after helping a patron find a book. My co-worker said, " I told those guys over there to put away their food." I asked, "Over where?" He told me they were in the corner on the other side of the room. I looked over there, and they were still eating. They had food on one side of the table.
I asked, " Did you call security?" My co-worker said, "Why should I call security, they should have been doing their job and stopped them at the door. The guys had the bags of food in plain sight." I said, "Well, that will just make it harder to get the next person to stop eating in here."

The guys were on my side of the floor, so I walked over there. As I approached the table, I said, "PUT THE FOOD AWAY NOW, OR LEAVE!" They said, "MAN, SHE'S COMING OVER HERE LIKE SHE AIN'T PLAYING." I then said, "YOU NEED TO LEAVE NOW?" They asked, "WHY?" I said, "MY CO-WORKER ALREADY TOLD YOU TO STOP EATING, SINCE YOU DIDN'T, YOU NEED TO LEAVE? This little knucklehead had the nerve to say, "OH, SO, YOU JUST GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT HE SAID???" As he licked his fingers and hand, he then took a large bite out of his chicken sandwich. At that moment, it occured to me that I didn't have to be bothered. I stopped talking and went in search of a telephone. I finally went to the International Reference Desk and told the other librarian to hand me the telephone and dial security's extension. The knuckleheads heard what I said, so they jumped up out of their seats, talking about, "WE'RE LEAVING NOW!" One took the stairs and the other took the elevator. They were still eating, so I told security to be on the lookout for them.

What is the use of a security guard

Mondays, we open @10:00a.m. I was on the desk @11:00a.m., a man yelled down the stairs to security from my floor, "SECURITY, STOP THAT MAN, HE JUST PUNCHED ME!!!!"

Tuesday, it was a fight on my 3rd floor, security was called and of course, they took their sweet time responding.

Wednesday, this old man got mad at me because I didn't understand what he was saying. He would ask me a question, and then start mumbling. I had to ask him more than once what he was talking about.

He said, " You know Stanford and T......S.....U...." I said, "What about Stanford and TSU?" He then said, "You know......pictures." I asked, "Pictures of what?" He said, "Stanford." I asked, "What kind of pictures of Stanford?" He began yelling and mumbling again, "You know, history and the picture of the school." I decided that I wanted to get him out of my face because he stunk, and he was yelling. I printed out the information for Stanford and TSU, stappled it, and gave it to him." I thought that would make him go away.....No, he continued to stand there. After 5 minutes, he said, "I'm waiting on you to give me the information for the other school." I told him that I had given him the information for both schools. He finally left.

Thursday, when I went to the reference desk in the afternoon, I saw a Shim who we've had problems with in the past. Propper clothing seems to be a problem. Security gave a warning before, because revealing booty shorts were the norm. After the warning, the Shim began wearing long jeans. Obviously attention was the desire was that day because the Shim was wearing jeans that had spits in the back up to the thigh. Then there was a tear that looked to be self made, along the butt crack.

I called security and asked them who allowed that in the building. The Shim was walking down the stairs. The Shim stopped at the landing between the 3rd and the 2nd floor. The Shim did a spin and then a booty shake, so that everyone on the first floor could see the tear in butt.

I was shocked........

Let me give you the back story. I used to work in the hood, hence the name of my blog because working at that branch, I needed an outlet. Different "characters" came into the library everyday. I saw the featured idividual everyday. I walked past where he lived every morning and evening. I thought he was extra creepy then and I now have validation of the way in which he made me feel.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6948555

Just plain NASTY

I work with some NASTY people. I am not talking about the patrons. I am talking about the individuals who are paid to be here at least 5 days out of the week. This happened last Thursday evening, and it has taken me this long to decide if I was ready to share it with blog land.

I have a routine, so that I am not doing the "pee pee" dance when I approach my gate every evening. I use the restroom 30 minutes before I leave and then again 10 minutes before I leave. Well, last Thursday, I took my chances and didn't use the restroom.

I used the restroom at 5:30pm and everything seemed okay. At 6:30pm, I went to use the restroom, there was a sign on the women's restroom and it said, It needs cleaning and custodial has been called. I went to use the restroom again at 6:50pm, the sign was still on the women's restroom and the men's restroom was occupied.

I thought just maybe, the restroom was messy, you know, urine on the floor, and paper everywhere. No, that wasn't it. Someone had done #2, there was a trail leading to the door........WHAT THE..........Who doesn't even clean their own mess?