A patron is out to get me

My branch has been open for 2 years, it will be 3 in February 2016.  A male patron who has been frequenting the branch for almost a year has decided that he wants me fired.

On many occasions, he has entered the branch and said something inappropriate to me in an effort to get a reaction out of me.  Most times, I would just look at the patron like he is crazy and keep it moving.

For the past few months, he has been sitting in a chair facing the reference desk and just starring at me.  Since sleeping is not allowed in any of our libraries, I walk the branch waking patrons and informing them of this Patron Guideline.  If the sleeping patron is someone that I have told about the guideline before and awakened more than once,  I tap the chair or knock on the table until they awaken.  I don't stop to inform them of the guideline again, I just keep walking.

The guy mentioned above has begun to fake sleeping.  When I approach the chair that he is sitting, he will open his eyes and exclaim that he was not sleeping.  Because of this, I began waiting until he begins to snore before I approach him.

Four weeks ago the scenario above occurred.  When I woke the patron, he yelled, "I AM GOING HOME ANYWAY!"  I didn't say anything in response, I just turned around and walked toward the reference desk.  The patron continues to yell, "OH, YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME?  I DO HAVE A PLACE AND IT'S PAID UP TOO!"  I didn't say anything, but I raised my hand in a stop sign motion, in the hope that the patron would stop talking.  I returned to the reference desk and he was still talking.  I never made a comment on anything that he had said.  I honestly don't care.  My only concern was and continues to be that he thinks that he can sleep in the library.

Well, homeslice went to another branch, bad mouthed me and submitted a complaint form about me.  He said that I don't know how to speak to patrons and I am in need of customer service training.

This is the same patron who has walked in the branch on many occasions and yelled, "I like messing with her, just to see what she will do!"  When I would look up, he would be looking directly at me while saying those words.

One Thursday night when I was closing the branch doors, this patron tells my co-worker that we haven't seen him because he got a job working at Wa* Ma*t.  He then announces, "Me and her gon get married."  I looked up and he was pointing at me.  I chringed, turned and speed walked away.

So after not getting the desired reaction out of me.  The patron who has been harassing me for months, decides that I need to be fired.  He lodged a complaint about my branch this week on a day when I wasn't even at work.

So you say

There is a young man who was a regular at my branch until January of this year.  All he ever talked about was Ya*e and how he would be a transfer student the Spring 2015 semester.  Well, in February of this year, his story began to fall apart in my eyes.

I attended a program at one of the neighborhood extension campuses of the local community college.  Who do I see working at the information desk, the patron who was supposed to be on the east coast.  His explaination(which I did not request,) " The dean asked me to fly back for this special program."

We I returned to work the next day, I mentioned that I saw the patron at the event the night before.

I also mentioned that I believed the patron had not gone to Ya*e, he simply stopped coming to our branch.  Two days later, as the Tech was processing the materials requests from other branches, the patron had requested one of our DVDs be sent to another branch.  A closer look at all of his request from our branch and it was discovered that he was having them sent to the same branch one neighborhood over.

Two weeks later, one of our pages saw the patron on the bus.  The patron stopped in the branch a month later saying, "Oh, I am just home for my brother's baby shower."  Once again, no one had asked for this explaination of his presence.

Fast forward to this past Friday. The patron walks into the library and gives me a hug.  I was helping a patron, so I didn't have time to entertain his foolishness.  To my surprise, the patron came into the library again on Saturday.  To avoid hearing any lies, I went into my office.  Not only was he still in the branch when I returned to the reference desk, he had made himself at home at the table in front of the desk.

I continued to do my work while avoiding conversation with the patron.  I told the Tech that I will call the patron out on his lies if I see him outside of the branch.  Knowing my tolerance level I will probably end up doing it while at work.

The Tech kept saying, "Don't do that."  I told her that what irks me is that he thinks we don't know that he is lying.

They need to just stop!

A few weeks ago, an elderly gentleman approached me at the reference desk.  He proceeded to show me a prescription and say, "I have a prescription for blue pills."  I looked at the prescription and then the patron, and said, " OKAAAAY!"

The patron showed me a brochure and said, "I went to C*S pharmacy and they told me that I have to get my prescription filled online.  I don't know anything about computers.  They told me to go to the public library."

I advised the elderly gentleman to apply for a library card.  Once he obtained the library card, I helped him log onto the computer and the online pharmacy.  The patron told me that he did not know what else to do.  I continued to help the patron order blue pills online.

The entire time that I helped the patron, I thought " Is this really what this profession has become?  I can't believe that I went to graduate school for this!"

My hope of posting more

It was in vain.

I think about posting, get home, eat, and fall asleep. 

I suspended 2 people last month, 1 for unreasonable use of the restroom and the other for a smoking in the restroom.

The unreasonable use was but naked.  He appealed and the suspension was overturned.  I later found out that he lied.

Hopefully, I will post more this year

So far, I have worked one 6 day week this year.  Two Saturday and Sunday weekends.  I am not liking this so far.

One employee was planning to retire next month.  I went on vacation and when I returned, I found out that she has changed her mind.    But, WHY??

Just GO already!

Say What Now?

A patron approached me yesterday and said, " Your face looks so young, but you have A LOT OF GRAY HAIR! I said, "That is because I am old!" Patron: No, because you have a young face. Me: I know how old I am. I am really old. I'm guessing he thought that he was giving me a compliment. There are those who gray prematurely, but I am not one of them. I happen to be old and have gray hair. I also happen to not look my age. Usually I cover my gray, but my stylist up and moved to Barcelona on me last July. Luckily, I follow him on facebook and instagram, because he will be in town next month and I have an apoitment. No, I haven't found anyone like him in a year. I could go to his friend(who I was going to before I switched,) but his friend doesn't listen to what his clients want. He is of the mind that he is an artist and he knows what his client should look like.

So I went to the ALA Convention in Las Vegas

A librarian convention was the last place I wanted to be. I was told that my branch would be discussed at one of the sessions. The convention opened June 27th. The session I was there for wasn't until June 29th. To top that off, it was at 8:30 am. Really, on a Sunday in Las Vegas. Did I enjoy myself? It was okay. It was hot and I prefer to be in Las Vegas when the temperature gets no higher than 75 degrees.

42 yr old who claims to be the next big rapper

What's his thing you ask? He likes to go into the women's restroom. What's his excuse for doing it? He says, there's never any handsoap in the men's restroom, but there's always some in the women's restroom. Well, someone broke the dispenser in the men's restroom, so the soap leaks. The kicker- he likes to use the stall toilets in the women's restroom and he likes young women. I gave him a warning about using the women's restroom. The second time, I suspended him for knowingly using the women's restroom (no, he is not a tran$exual.) The suspension was for 7 days. His first day back was today. He did spend three of the last 7 days attempting to re-enter the library during the suspension. What does he do today? Immediately goes to the men's restroom and sings/raps at the top of his lungs. Library security had just been to the branch, so I had a staff member call them back. They get the patron and he starts lying. I need to get my bag, I left it in the restroom. I said, " No, quit lying, you left it unattended under the table." Mind you that is another violation because I have warned and suspened him regarding that. He managed to acquire another 3 day suspension.

This is getting old real fast!

Mr. No Shoes, No Socks, managed to get himself suspended for 90 days again. It occurred the same week that the previous 90-day suspension was lifted. What is the offense this time you ask, he stole paper from the copier/printer. We have caught him before and got tired of repeating the same thing, so we just suspended him again. Has this stopped him from coming into the library, nope. If he doesn't see me at the reference desk, he will walk into the branch like he belongs there.

No Shoes, just socks

I've been dealing with a difficult patron for the past month. He would enter the library, stash his belongings and leave for hours at a time. Each time that I discovered what he had done, I would watch for his return and kick him out of the library for the day. He would then return an hour or so later, with shades on, thinking that would disguise him. I would remind him that he was suspended for the day. When that wasn't happening, I would find myself waking the same patron 2-4 times per day. Library security had escorted him out of the building twice. Last Wednesday, I caught him before he entered the building. Since we don't open until 1:00pm, he had been standing outside and cursing me up, down, and sideways (staff heard him through the bookdrop.) He was standing at the door, no shoes, and striking a pose. When the doors opened, he had stepped away. I was there waiting for him when he returned and told him to turn around before he entered the second set of double doors. That was it, he began cursing me, I heard all types of f-yous, and I was all types of b*tches. He turned to leave, changed his mind, turned around and began cursing me again. When he turned the first time, that made his suspension 7 days. Since he turned around again and began cursing me all over again, his suspension turned into 30 days. So, he went downtown the next day, to the main branch. Security snapped him up and served him the 30-day suspension.

The new moon has made me dred mercury in retrograde

It seemed as if everyone with any type of issue showed up at the branch this week. Security suspended a man who would leave his belongings inside the branch in random spots throughout the library and proceed to walk out of the building. He would then return every hour or so and peek, to see if his belongings were in the same place he left them and then exit the building again. Security found him spitting in the men's restroom. As they were escorting him out of the building, he stated that he didn't need this library anyway. He returned about 3 hours later and I reminded him that he was suspended. He returned again, the next day and once again, I had to remind him that he was suspended and for how many days.

Happy New Year

After many months of request, the heaters are finally working on a semi-regular basis. Yes, our building is new. It doesn't mean that things were installed correctly, or that library engineers know how to maintain the new "green" features. The staff workroom pocket door handle is broken. At this point, it may need to be replaced. They keep giving us temporary fixes that only last 1 day. This is the first week of school for the new year. We already had to kick 3 students out.

I know, it's been a while

Christmas at the library. Monday December 23, 2013. Patron calls: Do you have porn movies at your branch? Me: No! Patron: Do any of the branch libraries carry porn movies? Me: No! We suspect the caller is the same guy who dumped his porn collection in our book drop.

Weekend in Vegas

I met up with friends because there was a 50th birthday to celebrate. I rented a car. I've done it before, even used the same company many times, in many different cities. I've never had a problem until now. I used express rental car return, because I had a flight to catch and there were only two people checking-in cars. This was Tuesday. I received the final bill via email this morning. I was billed $34 for refueling. Um, I re-filled the tank myself before returning it to the airport. The return time said 4:00pm. My flight left at 2:55pm, so I returned the car before 11:30am. I telephoned customer service and got the $34 refunded. I was told that I would have to call the LAS office to have the return time corrected. I will sit in the car until someone arrives to check-in the car from now on.

A program was scheduled

It was supposed to be a creative writing workshop for children. Yeah, well that's not what happened. My manager passed away suddendly last month. The public memorial was at the beginning of this month. The creative writing workshop was scheduled to begin October 11th. On October 10th, my staff found out by happen stance that a totally different program was planned. Since it was supposed to be a children's program, I had the Children's Libraian contact the performer. Her explaination, " I was going to stop in at 1:00p.m. on Friday and explain the program to you." Really, she had invited public officials, my manager's family, there was a reporter from the neighboring community's newspaper. The woman asked to speak to me and I explained that everything she had planned needed to go through the library's public relations department and upper management. She said, "Oh, I don't want to get anyone in trouble." I told her that it's not about anyone getting in trouble, but she had planned a program totally different from what she presented to the Children's Librarian.

So you know me...........Really?

Last month, I was helping a patron obtain a new library card. While processing the application, the patron looked out the window, saw his friend and went to speak with him. When the patron returned, he had his friend with him. I didn't look up from the computer terminal until I heard his friend say, " Oh, I know her already!" I immediately frowned and said while looking up, "You know me? From where?" As soon as where rolled off my tonge, I recognized the guy. So I said, "Yeah, WHY DON'T YOU TELL THAT STORY!" Dude closed his mouth immediately. Way back when I first begain working as a non-assistance food stamp eligibility worker, he was one of my first clients. He sweated me from day one. I was constantly telling him that I wasn't interested. 4 years after I began that job, I left for graduate school. I was gone 1 1/2 years. When I returned, I received a brand new caseload. Low and behold, once again old boy was my client. At that time, when he began to sweat me, I told him that I didn't date clients. He immediately let his case close and then called me. We went out once and I was not impressed. Another 3 years go by and I have since quit my old job and began working as a librarian. I had a home that needed painting and he was painting houses. We made a verbal contract and he painted my home. He failed to return and do the finishing touches on the paint job. I had paid him in full and as collateral, he left all of his ladders. 6 months later, I decided to sell that house. Dude had returned once, to say that he would finish the touch-ups and collect his ladders. By the time I was in escrow, I had no valid contact information for dude. I gave the ladders to the guy who was fixing up my new home for me.

My Summer Recap

I went to New York for the Harlem Book Fair. The was book fair is wonderful. I learned what kind of person someone I had considered a friend for 13 years truly is. I spent my born day in NYC with me, myself, & I. The saying, "When people show you who they are, believe them" took on a whole new meaning for me during that trip. I really didn't want to write about this because the person reads my blog and has friends who don't know me from a can of paint that read my blog. It still bothers me because I truly thought the person was my friend. Initially, I kept in contact with 3 people I met in graduate school. The number is now down to 1. My library branch has been open 6 months and we are still waiting on parts to repair items that have been broken since opening day. Things seem to be breaking down everyday. How about a grown a** man urinated all over the men's bathroom 1 1/2 weeks ago. I'm talking about all over the floor, the walls, the sink, and the urinal. ( I left work for a medical appointment. I returned to an out of order sign on the men's restroom.) Our lovely custodial department decided that was not an important job and didn't send someone to clean it until after opening the next day.

The broken brick on the outside of the brand new library

It took two months, 3 engineers and 1 tile setter to replace the broken brick on the outside of the library. Our YT patrons who are relatively new to the neighborhood felt that it was their responsibility to remind the staff that the brick still hadn't been replaced each week. Now that it has been replaced, we haven't heard anything from them.

Speechless

I helped a teen last week and her born name is Fantasy!! I just hope that her parents were very young. I can't imagine naming my daughter Fantasy.

Serving a suspension

Monday, I asked a student to leave the library. I was called about 5 different types of bitches before he finally left. Tuesday, when I arrived to work, I began writing the incident report that would lead to the suspension of the student. Unfortunately, the penalty for verbal abuse of a staff member is 7 days for the first offense. The student suspened himself and didn't come to the library afterschool Tuesday. This afternoon, the student walked in and immediately went the long way around the branch. I said, " I really don't feel like serving him the suspension today." I asked the children's librarian to call security. I wanted to know irf one of the officers could drive out to serve the suspension. I went to the restroom. When I returned, to my surprise, one of the beat cops was standing near the reference desk. I asked him to serve the suspension paper for me. 5 minutes later, the other 10 students walked out. As they walked by the reference desk, they said, " You kick one of us out, we all leave." If only we had known that's all it would take to get rid of them!