Drunk Natty Dread

He approached me twice. The first time he asked me where the restroom is. I told him and he just stood at the counter. He then asked me something I didn't understand and proceeded to pull his California Identification and platinum visa out of his wallet and place them on the counter in front of me.

He asked me when the last spare the air day was. I told him that it was yesterday. He asked me what day that was. I told him it was Monday June 26th, yesterday. This whole transaction took forever because he was mumbling and I couldn't understand half of what he was saying. He decided that he wanted a print out of the spare the air days. Ifound some of the information, but not all. I simply wrote the dates on the paper and gave it to him. HE JUST STOOD THERE AND WOULDN'T MOVE. I FINALLY REMINDED HIM THAT HE SAID HE HAD TO USE THE RESTROOM. He asked for directions once again.

He returned. 5 minutes after he left. When I saw him walking toward me, I said, "If you don't have a real reference question, don't come over here because I don't want to be bothered with mess!" He said, " I do have a real reference question. Why did the tree fall in the white house lawn the other day?" I told him that I didn't know and he proceeded to tell me that I did. I finally said, " No, I don't and quit playing. I told you not to come over her with some mess." He says, "The tree fell because you can't have rain for days and not expect a tree to fall because the soil with give." I told him that isn't true because it doesn't always happen. Why didn't I just let him talk and not respond to anything? My dad has been dead for two years, so sometimes it slips my mind that a drunk is the last person you want to have a conversation with. No matter what, they have to have the last word and they are always right.

FINALLY, I just kept repeating myself. I was telling him to leave the reference desk because he didn't have any reference questions. THEN, he asked me to have dinner with him. (Why oh why must I receive attention from the WRONG type of man?) I told him "NO. " He proceeded to tell me that he is a nice guy. He asked me to check the balance on his new platinum visa card. I told him that he needed to do that for himself. He asked me again to go out with him, and I told him no. He then said, "On yeah, it's because my breath stinks." I told him no, "It's because I am not interested in you!" He still didn't leave. I kept telling him to leave and he finally did.

My co-worker had been on and off the telephone during this whole transaction. When it was finally over, he got off the telephone and asked me what that was all about. I told him that I had just been harrassed and he did nothing about it. He laughed. I didn't think anything was funny, and I told him so.

In the mandatory sexual harrassment workshop, they announced that there is nothing management can do about librarians who get harrassed by patrons. The only time something can be done is when it is the same patron all the time. THAT MADE ME MAD!!! I get harrassed almost every week and it is never the same person. Sometimes, the same person does it more than once but never in the same week.

"Dream Lady"

That's the nickname the librarian's on my floor have given her. She calls the reference desk at least 3-5 times per week and we are open 7 days a week. Today was my lucky day. I was the one to answer her call this morning. She began the conversation by saying," I want the definition of a word." I said, " Okay, what is the word?" She then said, "No, I don't want the definition of a word. I want to know what linens mean." Before I could ask, she clarified her queston. She said, "I want to know what a dream about linens means, bed linens that is."

I found the book and told her that it says a dream about linens means wealth and pleasure. She didn't seem as if she understood what I was saying. Her response was," That's all it says?" I told her yes, wealth means money and pleasure means you will have a good time or enjoy yourself.

*****I must give some background after sharing this incident. When I began working here two months ago, I was told about an elderly woman who calls all the time. They told me that she always wants to know the meaning of her dreams. I received this description/explaination, as I was being shown a shelf of books about dreams and zodiac signs located directly behind the reference desk. They said that she calls so often that they made a space for these books on the shelf.

For a whole month, I never answered the telephone when this woman called. I always wondered about a woman who supposedly dreams so much. My day came one Sunday afternoon. She called and low and behold, she didn't like my answer to the meaning of her dream. She then asked me to look it up in another book. I told her that I was looking in one more book and if she still didn't like what I found too bad. She said okay. I gave her the second answer, she then asked me if that was all that the book had on that particular situation. I told her yes,l and she hung up in my face.

I FAILED TO MENTION: THIS PARTICULAR WOMAN ONLY WANTS TO HEAR GOOD NEWS!!!!!

The other librarians in this department make up answers if what is written in the book is not good news. They have warned me that if you don't tell her anything good, she will keep you on the telephone until you do. I have told them about her hanging up in my face because I told her two books was my limit. **The red book has positive answers, usually*** Like I care!

A week after the hang-up incident, I was at the desk when she called. She asked me my name. I told her that we only give out our badge numbers as instructed by management. She then told me that I was lying because another librarian had given out her name. I informed her that it was a new policy. She said that she wanted my name because it was some woman who works here who doesn't like her and she doesn't know why. COULD IT BE THAT YOU SPEND YOUR DAYS THINKING OF WORDS TO CALL AND ASK US THEIR MEANING IN THE DREAM BOOKS????

This woman has said to me,"There are some dream books at the desk. You can look up what I dreamed about." Does she think our only reason for coming to work each day is to tell her words of encouragement?

I have told my co-workers that I will tell this woman whatever it says in the book, that's it, that's all!

Cubicles, oh how I hate them

I have been at this new location for two months now. The staff area has cubicles. People forget that they aren't at home when having private telephone conversations. These are professional people who are allowing their fellow co-workers to be a part of their drama.

1. Loudest of all has been sued for plagiarism and has until the end of this month to appeal. He
does realize his errors and for extremely private calls, he uses the department head's office.
(He closes the door, but you can still hear his as you walk by.) He sits two aisles away.

2. Next up. The woman who has gone through an ugly dissolving of a romatic relationship.
They finally sold the home they shared. There is now the problem of amicably parting ways
and possessions. They have enlisted a third party to act as a mediator. HOW DO I KNOW
????? I currently hear her conversation with the mediator regarding last nights incident.
I am sorry, I don't care to know anything about the personal lives of my co-workers. She sits
in the aisle next to my area.

3. The woman who sits behind me sounds as if she is trying to get the attention of someone who
is three blocks away when she is on the telephone. When her friend comes down to visit her,
if I am at my desk, I must go elsewhere.

4. The woman who sits in the cubicle on the other side of mine. I believe that she has finally
gotten the message. She rarely holds conversations when I am at my desk. This is also the
one who was talking about me to another co-worker as I sat a my desk.

5. The woman who sits behind woman #4. Not only are her conversations loud. She adds her
two cents to everyone else's conversations. She is calling her girlfriend all day long to check
on her and profess her love for her. Something must be wrong with me because I have
always hated corny sappy people/couples.

After two months, it is still hard for me to get adjusted to these LOUD conversations that surround me.

6 Days!! Yeah, I know.......

Time flies by. Sometimes it doesn't jump off until the end of the day. I can't blog while at the reference desk. Well, I did once. The incident was so good, I didn't want to give myself time to forget any details.

This Friday, June 23rd, there is an Open Mic/Poetry Slam Contest at my old job. My former co-worker who now works upstairs, asked me to go with her. I told her that I would think about it and get back to her. That was last month. I really don't want to go. I live in the same neighborhood where the library is located. I haven't even been on that side of the neighborhood since my last day at that job. I have no desire to see that side of the area.

It's not that I don't like my former co-workers. I do like them and enjoy talking to them. I have no desire to see the former patrons. I don't feel like answering a million and one questions regarding my whereabouts.

I must have offended someone in another life

There are two librarians sitting at the reference desk. Each patron that has approached me so far this hour, has bypassed the other librarian. She is not busy. There isn't a patron in front of her. She is simply surffing the internet. She isn't even working on a project.

The first guy says that he has a free Greyhound ticket for travel around the United States this month. He asked if copies of United States maps were given away at the reference desk. I told him no, but there are Rand McNally Road Atlases laying on the counter beside me. He glanced at the atlases and moved on.

Right after him, another patron approached me. This patron was actually waiting for the previous patron to finish his questioning. The second patron reaked of alcohol so bad, that if I lit a match we would all go up in flames. HIS REFERENCE QUESTION THREW ME FOR A HUGE LOOP!!!!

" I would like some books on alcholism. I would like to research alcoholism." It seemed to me that the patron had conducted all the research he needed first hand. I gave him three titles to search for.

He returned to the desk and told me that he wanted to check out the book he had in hand. I first, checked the status of the book to make sure that it wasn't a reference book. I then told the patron that he would have to check the book out downstairs. I had to repeat myself two times because he acted as if he didn't understand. THIS WAS MY PROBLEM WITH THAT REQUEST.
1. You can't check out books at this or any other reference desk in this building.
2. Once again, he bypassed my co-worker who is not doing ANYTHING AT ALL!

The first patron came back two more times, telling me about Yosemite and asking about some national monument in Wyoming. He had the Wyoming travel book in his hand, yet he continued to ask me about Devils Tower. All I wanted to say was, "DO I LOOK LIKE I WOULD TRAVEL TO WYOMING JUST FOR FUN?????"
It isn't even 11:00 a.m. and I am already fed up for the day. Hopefully, it will only get better.

That neon sign must have been real bright today!

I have a running joke with my friends, that I attract the worst. When in the club, you can usually spot me running away from the fugly drunks, those with gold teeth, process wearing, polyester leisure suit, or just got released from jail pen men.

Today was not any different. At work all of those and more always approach me with a reference question. As a children's librarian they came asking me to help them look for books that they new darn well were in the adult section. On to the story.......

I was helping an older homeless vanilla man search for books on Denmark. One was on the floor and the other was in the back. He was confussed because he had conducted the search himself, unsuccessfully. After giving him one of the books and sending him to the next location, he returned to the desk.

He made a point of explaining to me that he believes he is a direct desendent of Denmark royalty. He showed me two different pictures and asked me where he could make copies. I explained to him where the copy machines are located and sent him on his merry way. 5 minutes later, he returned to the desk whispering. He asked, "Is it okay if I give you a compliment?" I said sure, because I thought that he wanted to thank me for helping with his search. To my surprise, he whispered, "You are so pretty." I said thank you and he walked away.

My coleague, who is a Cocoa male, said "Why do you get the good ones?" He was teasing, but you know I didn't think it was funny. He also said he is so happy that I now work here. All of the "special" patrons flock to me and they no longer have to deal with them. Whomever is blessed to work the desk with me is in a position to watch the madness unfold. It is like a bee to honey. They wait in line to bother me. Some even come back later when they see that the desk is busy.

Now I want to vent about today.

The first hour that I was on the desk went well. The second hour that I was on the desk, I wasn't so lucky. After 15 minutes on the desk, the noise begins. It was a man, but he had acrylic nails(red,) bleached blond shoulder length hair, and he was yelling into his cellular telephone. You would think that his voice was soft from appearances, WRONG. He had this deep voice and he continued to yell. Some nice librarian created a slip of paper that explains where you can use a cellular telephone in the library. I handed that to him. He read it and kept yelling without missing a beat. When I looked at him like he had lost his mind, he covered his mouth with his hand. This didn't reduce the noise at all. I let him go on for 10 more minutes. I was giving him evil looks and he would lower his voice then raise it again. I finally got tired. I went over there and told him he had 2 choices. 1) Go to the designated area and talk, 2) Leave the library, or I would call security and have him escorted out of the building. He took his time, but he unplugged his charger and prepared to leave the building. He was still yelling into the telephone. I am sorry, I failed to mention that dude was charging his cellular telephone on the library's money and disobeying the rules.

Let's talk about people left in the 1980's

Why does it have to be. This post is a reflection of what happened Thursday morning June 8, 2006. I will say it again, why, oh why must we have those who remain in decades past? I was trying to help a brotha out with his attempt at internet access. Now you know he took it as me digging on him, NOT!!! After helping him for the second time, he asked me my name. I in turn, asked him why he needed to know it. He then asked if that was something we weren't allowed to do. To save his face and to reduce the amount of time I had to talk to him, I simply said yes. He went on to tell me that his name is "D." That was something he didn't need to share because he had a big fat gold "D" medallion hanging from a chain around his neck. Dude also had a salt 'n' pepper Jerri Curl afro.

Let's move on to TRASH in the library. When I left on Wednesday, I noticed a pile of trash on a table in the Teen Section. It was still there on Thursday when I passed it on my way to the reference desk. It was still there that afternoon. We have custodial staff all day long and even after hours. It wasn't that they had missed the floor, or even that section of the floor. They had cleaned around that area. One of my co-workers finally removed the remaining bag himself.

I would have posted this on Thursday, but blogger wasn't allowing me access.

I had been doing so well this week

AND THEN.......Patron: I um....need a book about people who take pictures. Me: You would like a book about photographers. Patron: NO!!!! People who take pictures and sell them, you know theeir name is printed somewhere on the photo. Me: Yes, you would like a book about photographers. Would you like a biography.

Patron: No, I don't want a biography. I want something that is annotated. Me: Okay, but photographers sell their photographs. Is there a particular book that you are looking for.

Patron: Yes, but it has to be about photographers. I conduct a search and print out the titles of two books. Patron I have already seen those books. Me: I asked you if there was a specific book that you were looking for. By now, my boss has gotten tired of the exchange and tells the patron to go upstairs where the books about photographers and photography are located.

The patron walks away and we are all now confussed.

When you can no longer relate, you need to quit!!!

This morning was a madhouse. We had our monthly visit from a group of teen rehab chicks. They were actually just being teens, acting up in the library. Eating, drinking, and talking waaay toooo loud!! There were three adults acompanying them. You know the adults acted as if they could see no evil, hear no evil. They had a scheduled visit with the teen librarian. That was okay, but they were all over the place.

There were two who felt they were too good to conduct an online catalog search themselves. They first approached the other librarian on duty. He took time with them and showed them how to search the online catalog, while actually doing the search for them. Well, after 10 minutes and numerous searches, he told them that they would have to do the searches on their own. They proceeded to walk the floor and act like they were searching for a book.

What they were actually doing was waiting for him to leave the desk so that they could approach me. They had grand plans for me to search the catalog for all of the other books they were looking for. I had news for them. After searching one library record to see if the books placed on hold had arrived, I took them to the online catalog. I began to explain to them how to conduct a search. The little he**as had the nerve to tell me, " Oh, we already know how to search the catalog. He just showed us." I told them that they needed to search the catalog.

I then had to continue telling groups that were sitting near each other that eating and drinking were not allowed in the library. One group was sitting behind me. I told them that if I heard them eating again, I would make them sit at a table in front of the reference desk. Not two minutes later, I had to tell another group. After that, they had the nerve to say loudly "Why does everyone have attitudes today?"

The third adult accompanying the teens approaches the area drinking a hot beverage. My time at the desk was almost up and I chose not to say anything.

After I left the reference desk, all he** broke loose amongst the librarians. It was mostly the supervisors. They had a problem with the teens being allowed to run wild in the library. See that is the problem with some of us. They think because the teens are in a program, they should get special treatment. They are in that program because they are bad. Just like the adults who sell, and use drugs who are given the choice of time or a rehab. program, the teens chose rehab. Not all of the girls were bad. Out of 15 girls, 5 were really causing problems. The problem is, the girls would rotate, but it was always 5 at one time acting up.

The supervisors had a meeting with the manager, and they all spoke with the teen librarian. The teen librarian then asked me if she could speak with me regarding the matter. Supposedly, someone called me the "B" word but I didn't hear it. They were all in an uproar. I just told her that she should insist that they feed the girls before they enter the library. That will eliminate the food problem. I also told her that I wasn't sure if I should approach her or the adults with the teens in regard to their behavior.

The teens thought I was mean, but little do they know, I was nice.

Is it the WATER?????

So far today, I was only at the reference desk during the second hour of operation. We have been blessed with the patrons who talk to someone only they can see. I know that this is a serious mental problem, my paternal grandmother suffered from it.

What makes today odd, is that there is more than one person who suffers from this particular illness sitting on either side of the reference desk. On first glance, the assumption is that the person is on the telephone. The second glance causes you to examine the situation a little better, then you realize there is more than one person talking and they are not talking to each other. Sitting at the reference desk makes you feel as if you are in a wind tunnel and all of the noises are passing by you.

Add to this the odd reference questions of which you can't get a clear picture of what the patron is looking for. It takes a couple of seconds and then you realize that the patron doesn't have a clear picture of what they are looking for either. You then need to mix in the true reference questions.

I still have two more scheduled hours at the reference desk, later this afternoon. I am hoping that the climate has changed. I have a feeling that it will just be new faces, but the same type of patrons.

Only Black Folks..........

This woman came to the reference desk yesterday, to ask about using microsoft word on the internet computers. After I explained to her how she would access the program, she asked me if my hair was real. I told her that it is. She then asked, "Well, do you have tracks mixed in?" I told her no, and explained that sections are short because it has fallen out in some places. She went on to ask me if I had ever used Motions Permanent Hair Relaxer. I told her that I had, but I haven't put any type of relaxer in my hair for 9 months. I told her that I use a ceramic flat iron now. She said, "Oh, and that is enough for your hair; it leaves it looking like that." I told her that it did.

I was being real nice!!!! She stayed at the desk for 10 minutes asking me about my hair. If I had a weave, it would be much thicker than my hair. I would also have this gray covered up. I have had a track one time in my life and the glue drove me crazy. I wanted to add color to my hair without chemicals. That colored track only lasted one week in my hair.

All I could think about for the rest of the day is the nerve of black folks. I have had men pull my hair really hard when walking past me in a club. I realize that they wanted to know if it was real.

What the.......?

A patron walks up to the desk and reports that someone is smoking crack in the men's restroom. IT'S 11:00 a.m.!!! I called our onsite security to report the incident. A vanilla man had the nerve to be arguing while a security officer was escorting him out of the building. WHAT COULD HE POSSIBLY BE PROTESTING!!!! HE WAS CAUGHT, END OF STORY!!!!

I have a radar this week.......

For the mentally unstable that is. Today, a man who has approached me every morning this week made a bee line for me at the desk. He has these long obscure search request. He will get angry when everything he is looking for is on a different floor. Lucky for me, he went to a different floor first. They in turn, sent him to my floor. His quest today was for books with God-like planets as the subject. First he wanted non-fiction, then he wanted science fiction.

He returned to the desk after browsing the science fiction isles. He decided that he wanted non-fiction books once again. I got tired of him real quick. I set him up at the online catalog and proceeded to show him how to do the search himself. He tried that line, " I don't know how to do this." I wasn't buying it today. I told him, "That is why I am showing you. You can sit here and play with your search terms for as long as you'd like." Once he settled on the call number section that he wanted, my shift was up. My boss was relieving me and agreed to take over where I had left off.

The other patron who decided that I was her friend for the day, marched up to the reference desk as soon as I sat down. Now we all know that there are "golf" pencils and note paper at the reference desk. That wasn't good enough for her. She told me that she wanted a pen. I shocked her because there weren't any pens at the desk. I told her that she would have to make do with a pencil. She told me that she was going to draw.

30 minutes later, she returned to the desk. She was polite this time. "Excuse me, can I have a rubber band please. I want to put my hair in a ponytail." Once I began looking for a rubber band, she decided that she needed four. When I pulled out a hand full, she exclaimed, "That will do." I subtracted four from what I had and gave them to her. I was her new friend then. She skipped away while telling me to, "Have a nice day."

I am hoping that the special people will be gone when I return to the desk later this afternoon. Something tells me that it will just be a new batch ready for the night shift.

The nerve of some people

1 1/2 weeks ago my former boss calls me. She said that I had scheduled preschool videos for that day but the videos hadn't arrived. In the same breath, she also told me that the delivery for that day hadn't arrived yet. She then said, "I guess that I can pick out a video just in case the ones that you selected are not in the delivery."

IF SHE ANSWERED HER OWN QUESTION, WHY DID SHE CALL ME!!!!!!

My former boss calls me again today. " I am looking through the binder and I don't see a copy of your selection form for preschool videos for this coming Monday. I do see the fax cover sheet for the April and May preschool video selections. I haven't found a copy of the selection sheets. Should I call the AV Dept. and ask if they received your request? Who shoud I call?" I tell her that I don't remember the guy's name, but I wrote it down somewhere in the binder. As a matter of fact, his name is on the fax cover sheet. She ends the conversation by saying that she will definitely call AV. I tell her that she should call the department because I do remember submitting the preschool video request from April-October. Wait, "Why am I telling her anything?" This is a branch manager who has been without a children's librarian before. Surely, she doesn't expect me to complete the request from my current post.

While I am at it, why does she always begin these conversations by asking me if I like my current position and if I am happy. I am 95% better mentally. Physically, I am having some problems. I would never tell her that though. Is she asking this because she thinks that I will return to the branch? I hope that isn't the case. I truly want to give this gig a chance. I definitely don't want to go backwards.

Phony people get on my LAST NERVE!!

Thursday May 4th. When I arrived to work, I chose to charge my cell phone because it showed two bars. I hid the phone and charger, then went upstairs to drop something off. I wasn't gone 10 minutes. After having returned to my desk, I realized that the woman sitting in the cubicle adjacent mine was talking about me to another Librarian. Neither of them are black. They were discusing me charging me cell phone and the fact that they were not even aware that there is an electrical outlet in my cubicle. NOW in order for the charger and cellular telephone to be seen, someone would have to have been inside my cubicle or leaning into it from my neighbors. Either way, they were all up in my space. They went on to discuss what I have done on the floor when dealing with patrons. They ended their conversation by saying that maybe my actions should be a topic for the staff meeting on May 9th.

As they were talking about me, I began e-mailing a co-worker who sits two aisles over and the friend who works upstairs. I explained how two librarians were talking about me while I was sitting at my desk. I guess they didn't realize that I had returned to my desk. The friend who works upstairs sits next to a friend of the main woman talking about me. My friend called and suggested that we take a break outside the building and discuss the incident. My ex called on my cell phone in the middle of all this and wanted to know what was going on. I told him that I couldn't discuss it on the phone, but I would send him an e-mail. During the break, my friend told me to ignore the mess. I checked my e-mail when I returned and my ex wrote, "You already know what I have to say, F*CK THEM H**S!"

I had reference desk duty about 1/2 hour after the incident described above. I had no idea who my common cubicle wall co-worker was speaking to. The librarian scheduled to work the desk with me, immediately goes into this long speech. In her speech, she tells me that I should feel free to ask her any and everything about the material. She tells me that even if she is helping a patron, I should interrupt her and ask away. She says that she knows that the layout of the floor and the materials can sometimes be confusing. This is the most this woman has ever said to me. It also let me know who the other person was talking about me. I thought she may have been feeling a bit of guilt. I was looking at her like she was CRAZY the whole time she was talking.

30 minutes go by without me talking to this woman. She then announces, " I said all of that earlier because you might be able to answer some of my questions and help me out." I didn't even comment, I just looked at her once again like she had lost her mind. Thursdays are my Fridays, so I couldn't wait until the end of the day. Two days away from these petty women.

Sunday morning I arrive at work before the petty women. After sitting at my desk for 30 minutes; common cubicle wall woman pops over to my area, "GOOD MORNING." This is the first day of my third week, this woman has never spoken to me. I said hi, and turned my head. I couldn't get on the computer because for some reason I was unable to logon. I.T. said that my computer wasn't registered with the domain. After waiting for 45 minutes, I was able to log onto the computer and feel like maybe the day wouldn't be so bad. I tried my best to speak to the petty women as little as possible.

A brotha on the come up

Minding my own business at the ref. desk this morning. A homeless man walks up to the desk and ask me if we have any books on viagara. I, like a fool, start searching the catalog. This was all a part of his " pick-up line." He goes on to say that his girl is trying to leave him because he can't get it right. He then asks me if I would leave him if he couldn't get if right. I don't even answer the question.

Once he realized that I was not going to answer the question, he goes in for the kill. He tells me that he doesn't have a problem, but he is trying to get my number. I still don't answer, but I show him that there are some books on viagra in the catalog. I tell him it's no joke, we do have some literature.

He's sticking to his line. He asks me if I am married, I don't answer. He tells me that he doesn't see a ring, and asks me if I have one. I tell him that I do have a ring. He asks why I don't have it on, I tell him that it is at my desk. He asks how long I have been married and I tell him almost three years. He then asks me if I would leave my husband for him. I don't even answer, I just look at him like n**a please!!! He stinks and has on dirty clothes. He sees the way in which I am looking at him. He proclaims that he is not homeless, his coat is dirty, but he is in school (Big Rig Driving.)

He tells me that he will be clocking 10k a month once he finishes school, 8k after taxes. He asks if my man is bringing it in like that , I tell him no. He asks me again if I would leave my man for him because he will be able to pay my rent. I told him that as long as he is paying his rent, that is the only thing he should be worried about.

He has green eyes and I guess he was fantasizing about back in the day when he was able to pull any chick he desired. I am not the one. I am not trying to help anyone else get back where they feel they should be.

You can never truly leave the children

The library opened at 9:00 a.m. today. I wasn't scheduled to work the reference desk until 10:00 a.m. When I arrived at the desk, I discovered that there were two high school classes visiting our floor today. Luckily for me, we are scheduled to work the reference desk in one hour increments.
When helping someone in a group; once you have helped one person locate what they are looking for, the news spreads like wildfire. I helped one young woman almost as soon as I arrived at the reference desk. For the duration of the hour, I was helping others in her group. She was looking for a biography of Martin Luther King Jr. Another student wanted the Autobiography of Malcolm X. One young man wanted art books, which aren't on our floor and I had a hard time convincing him of this. It didn't matter that he had been walking the floor for 15 minutes before he finally asked where he could find the book he was looking for. The next to the last search question was the kicker for me.

The young woman said that she was embarrassed to ask for my help. She said that she had been looking for the book and wasn't having any luck in locating it. She gave me a sheet of paper with just the call number. I checked the online catalog, to make sure the book was actually on the shelf. The title surprised me, "Lesbian sex scandals." I think that she was more embarrassed by the title than by not being able to find the book. She went on to tell me that she would hit herself if I found the book. I found the book and told her that I was waiting for her to hit herself. She did hit herself. She was accompanied by her girlfriend the whole time. After retrieving the book, they sat down to read it.

The students were supposed to find a book for their research paper during their visit. I learned from other students that they were given a list of choices for their topics. I am sure that lesbian sex was not on the list.

They were running, laughing, talking loudly, yelling, and eating. They were also more concerned with their access to the internet, than they were with finding a book.

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.