I found this today and thought that I'd share it

AP - Tue Mar 27, 5:06 PM ET
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - A cameraman was caught with some creepy video footage. The man was surreptitiously videotaping female feet in the science library at University of California, Santa Cruz, campus police said. "Officers indicated he was embarrassed by his behavior," university spokesman Jim Burns said Monday. "He offered no resistance to the request that he leave immediately and indicated he would not be back."

I have heard of this but I have never witnessed it. I have also heard of men licking women's toes while they were studying in the library(this happened while I was working at GSU Library.)

Silence no more!!!!

The two weeks of silence are gone. No more sitting at my desk and actually hearing myself think. SHE'S BACK, the loud mouth librarian. She is returning her voicemail calls. I am wondering why she hasn't been scheduled on the reference desk yet.

I am tired of her voice already. I know, I know, I need a new job already. I haven't even been in this department for a year. April 25th will mark my one year anniversary of being in this position.

It's not the duties, it's not my supervisor, it's not my manager. IT'S THE LOUD COWORKERS!


They have been here for 10 or more years, so I know they aren't going anywhere. It is I who must make that move.

Just another rainy Monday

I finally decided that today was the day to pay my property taxes. It had been sprinkling all day.

2:00 p.m., I decide to trek over to City Hall. Well, I get downstairs and it was pouring down raining and COLD. As I got closer to the building, I noticed that a lot of people were exiting the building. I reached the top of the stairs after snaking my way through and around people, IT'S A FIRE ALARM!!!!!!!!

I have to put off paying my taxes once again. There's an ATM in City Hall, but that was off limits also. This meant I had to walk another block and a half. By the time I reached the ATM, I was dripping wet and I still had to walk back to work.

I needed the ATM today because I have to replace a tire. I went to visit my friend at the library she manages in East Oakland on Saturday. I parked on the 49th and Foothill, she told me not to do it last month when I was there. I figured there was a space right by the door to the library. The bad part is that I figured wrong.

The right front tire has a slash. It is jagged and slanted. But get this, the tire has a slow leak. It cant' be repaired, it has to be replaced!!!!!! It's a good thing that I use public transportation as a means to get to and from work.

Wave cap and her DRAMA

About two weeks ago, I was stopping at my desk before going out to the reference desk. I see Wave Cap approaching my desk with her grown son in tow( it is 9:55 a.m.) They were headed toward the staff fax machine. It is right across from my desk, so we passed each other.

Now every since I told on her a few months back, she hadn't been really speaking to me. Well, low and behold, she decides to showboat in front of her son and say hi. I looked at her like she is CRAZY; paused, said hi and kept it moving.

Here it is about two weeks later and she came shuffling back to the fax machine this morning. I didn't even have to looks up. No one else shuffles around in slippers all day long. The woman had the nerve to say HI. I didn't look up, I didn't turn my head, but I did say hi.

She continued to shuffle pass my desk about three more times before I went out to the reference desk.

When I returned to my desk an hour later, there was a pile of books that needed to be withdrawn or sent to preservation. She did the punk move of waiting until I was gone to place a stack of work on my desk(she has done this twice so far today.)

Why am I writing about this. Well, she went to the other black librarian (male) and asked him why I didn't like her!!!!!!!!

When he told me about her question, I told him that it goes back to her getting mad because I inadvertently told my boss that she wasn't doing her job correctly. She was mad at me for weeks after that and stopped saying anything to me.

I told him that he can tell her to stop trying with me because that first incident with her, set the tone for our working relationship...........Don't SPEAK TO ME!!!! If you feel that you must say hi, do it and keep it moving.

I have said this over and over about the petty women working in this system, I DON'T NEED ANYMORE FEMALE FRIENDS!!!!!!

RUN-DMC-You Talk Too Much

I have a co-worker who sits in the aisle next to mine. I am reminded of the refrain from this song everytime she opens her mouth. She is loud and you know exaclty what is going on with everyone everywhere. She will be on vacation this week and I have been looking forward to this every since I heard her making the plans.

Just when I was prepared to get some work done

I am on a committee that selects the non-fiction books that will be available for purchase by our library system.

Each month I am responsible for gathering all of the titles for two different sections. This entails me printing out all of the information for each book, reviews and all, and forwarding it to the chairperson for the committee.

We meet each month and go over each title for each and every non-fiction book that will be featured the following month.

I have put this off since the last week of February. Well, the meeting is Thursday of next week. This means that I must get cracking.

GUESS WHAT????????????????............The main printer for the entire floor is BROKEN!!!!

I am now expected to save everything I want to print to USB Flashdrive and then go to another terminal and print the information. That only lasted long enough for me to print two titles.

I printed that mess while I was on the reference desk. I kept asking my boss if the printer was fixed yet.

Here we go again......Lunchtime Special

One of the library pages approached the Security guard who happened to be posted on the railing in front of the reference desk. Silly me, I thought he was teasing her about talking loudly in the library..........Little did I know.


The page whispers to me, "There is a patron sitting at a computer terminal outside of the gay/lesbian center getting busy." I gave him a quizzical look, so he continues, "You know, the patron is full on, pants down getting busy."

Security guard was right on time, because she was able to catch the patron in the act. And...lucky for us, but not so lucky for the patron......The police officer who is stationed at this library just so happened to be walking by.

The lead ol' boy away down the back stairs.

Not my typical rainy Monday

Today is the first day that I had to report a patron masturbating. It was brought to my attention by a wheelchair bound patron who was waiting to use the computer.

As I was walking past, on my way back to the staff area.

Patron: "Ew, just nasty."

I leaned in to hear what he was saying clearly because I thought that I didn't hear him clearly.


The patron whispered in my ear that the man at terminal 351 was masturbating. I glanced over and there he was. One hand inside his pants, just working away; while he used the other hand to maneuver the mouse.

Instead of heading to my desk in the back, I made a bee line for the reference desk, so that I could call security and report the incident. I waited five minutes for an officer to arrive.
I pointed out the offending patron.


THE PATRON HAD THE NERVE TO NOT ONLY DENY IT, BUT TO ASK WHO COMPLAINED. I overheard all of this while I was once again making an attempt to return to my desk in the staff area.

I told the patron that I had seen him with my own eyes. First, he said, " I was scratching myself."

I looked at him with a smirk on my face. He then said, " Don't you have work that you should be doing!"

The security officer simply made the patron get up so that he could be escorted out of the building.

Oxygen

Me: Did you need some help?

Patron: " Yeah, it's about oxygen! " [I look at him like go on...]



"You have children in the builing.............."[I began to look at him like he'd lost
something]


" It's probably easier for me to notice this........................"[I was still lost, wondering
what in the world he was
talking about]



"There's something that your management can buy................." [ I continued to look at
him in wonder]



And then, FIANALLY!!!!!!!

" The children, your building is depleting them of their oxygen. "


BACK TO REALITY/EARTH, since he obviously wasn't getting through to
me.

" Where is computer terminal number 379?"

I pointed him in the right direction with the quickness!!!!!!

My first false fire alarm

Sundays, this library closes at 5:00 p.m. Yesterday, at 4:07 p.m. the fire alarm starts to go off. I was in of all places, the restroom.

There's construction going on in th building, so sometimes the fire alarm goes off accidently. This was not the case. So by 4:12 p.m. we havd almost all of our floor cleared and my boss told me to exit the building.

I had just glanced at the evacuation instructions, to see what my assigned duty was. I failed to pay attention to what area the staff was supposed to meet in.

Why, oh why did I go to the front of the building? I still thought it might have been a false alarm and they would reopen the building immediately.

This is what I over heard:

Patron(who comes here everyday, stays all day, and wears the same thing,) " This is a waste of the tax payers money. That was probably a false alarm because they don't want us in there. This library is always waisting our tax payer dollars!"

He was periodically looking at me at he said all of that. After the last sentence, I couldn't hold it in any longer and began laughing.

The Patron then looked at me and said, " You are laughing, but I am serious and I know that the library is just waisting our tax payer money!"

I knew that if I stayed in that spot any longer, I would have said some things to hurt that man.
I was laughing because I was thinking that that man knows he doesn't pay taxes. If anything, he gets SSI and that is part of my tax dollars supporting him monthly.

In my effort not to enrage the patrons even more, I decided to move to the other side of the building.

Where is the paper shredder when you need it?

My first hour on the reference desk was spent listening to this woman tear notebook paper into shreds. I don't know how many notebooks she had, but it seemed as if the sound of paper tearing would never end.

My co-worker kept walking away from the desk and going back to the staff area, in hopes that she would be done when he returned.........Nope, she was still there each time, just shredding away.

We were afraid to give her a pair of scissors. The only type of scissors we are allowed to give patrons are child proof, but we still feared that she might harm herself or someone else.

Finally, with ten minutes left on the desk, she stopped.........................Walked to the desk and returned a pair of SCISSORS that one of the librarians must have given her the previous hour.

Sometimes I am left speechless

I was searching for a book this afternoon. While walking in the direction in which the book was shelved, I noticed something odd. I thought, no, I didn't see what I thought I saw. So, me being me, I looked again....


A patron was browsing the book truck while.................PICKING HIS NOSE!!!!!!!


In that moment, I made a mental note to myself to always use sanitizer after touching a book.

Crazy trips me up each and every time

A patron asked me to find a book about kings for her.....Okay, what type of kings, where. "Oh all european kings, I want names and years." I located a general book and we were off in seach of it.

We get to the aisle where the book is shelved. In a hushed tone........."Can you find me a book on Satan" I looked at that woman like, "What the..........................." So she says, "That was a real person, that was his name." Then she eyes a book on Ancient Greece. "Can you get me a title on Ancient Rome too, I know, you can find one in the computer." Once again, I looked at her like she was out of her mind because the reference desk was on the other side of the room. Before I left in search of the two different subjects, she said, "I know, I keep asking you for different things when I should have asked when you were at the desk, but I don't know what I want."

I went back to the desk and found some more call number sections for her to look at because I was THROUGH helping her. I knew that her search would be never ending, since I was searching for whatever popped into her mind. ****Greece, Rome, and Europe are all in the same general area, but I needed to step away from that woman for a minute!

The situation had me for a minute

I telephoned a friend in Atlanta while leaving work yesterday. I sat in the car and continued to speak with her. Because of the time difference, I knew that our conversation wouldn't be long. After sitting in the car for ten minutes.....................................

I hear the door handle being moved. I look up from my conversation, and see an older man with a suitcase. He began yelling for me to open my car door. I was yelling in return, telling him to get away from my car. This man told me to shut up and open the door. We went back and forth for a couple of seconds.

My friend asked what the problem was. I told her hurriedly that a bum was trying to open my car door. I quickly got off the cell and started the engine. Thankfully, the fool had begun to walk away.

I was/am thankful that I had enough sense to lock the doors. I am glad that he didn't break the window or have a gun. I was about four blocks away from my current job, but I was right in front of my old job.

Yesterday they left me tired

Theses things occurred during the last hour that I worked the reference desk.

1st Patron was actually being helped by my co-worker( She's new to the department, but not
the profession or this library system--old as dirt)

The patron was asking how she would go about using her USB Flash Drive because she
hadn't used one before. She then wanted to know how she could use one of the public
computers to transfer her documents from her floppy disk to the flash drive.


Insert the dumb look on my co-worker's face when she turns to me and asks, "Do you know what she is refering to?" (Thanks Tam)

At that point, I took over the reference question. I took the patron to the wordprocessing terminals and showed her where she would insert both the floppy disk and the flash drive.

The patron then asked me if a librarian would be able to show her how to transfer the information. I explained to the patron that we haven't been trained to do that and if anyone
is familiar with the process, it is because they have done it with their own documents.

The patron then asked, " Well is there anyone whose sole job is to show patrons how to transfer documents on the public computers"

I told the patron that that isn't the role of the librarians; but like I said before those who have done the tasks in question themselves, may be able to assist patrons.

The next question was, "Do you know how to transfer files from floppy to flash drive."

I told the patron that I didn't, and I don't own a flash drive.

Patron: "Well, do you know which librarian's have experience transfering documents? I mean,
do you know any names or what floor anyone with that experience might work on?"

I explained once again, "We are not trained to assist the patrons in the transfer of data, but you
might luck up and find a librarian who is."

Patron: "I still don't understand the difference in the computers or the floppy drives and the
flash drives, and how to use them with the computers."

Once again, I explained to the patron how she would use both on the computers and the difference between the two.

Patron: "Well, I don't have the flash drive or floppy disk with me today, I just wanted to know
what to do!" ..............................And, she walked away.

Last patron.

Patron: Can you help me to find a book about "coming out?"

I searched the online catalog and finally found a title that was supposed to be on the shelf. Most of the titles I found were reference and he wanted something he could checkout.

As we were walking to the shelves to search for some books, the patron said to me, " I don't want a book with more that 100 pages." (English seemed to be his second language)

Patron: "If the book has more than 100 pages, I won't be able to understand it."

The book wasn't on the shelf, so I sent him to another desk where they would retrieve the books from the shelves in the staff area.

The patron comes back to the desk. Patron: "I don't want a non-fiction book, because I'm
already out. I want a fiction book no more than
100 pages."
I changed the search and found some fiction titles for him to choose from. I found two books with less than 200 pages, but he seemed happy.

What would you say?

What do you say to the patron who says, "You take a nice picture."
( He said this while looking from me to my badge, while I was searching the online catalog.)

My reply,"Um yeah, thanks!"

What was going through my mind was, "So, does this mean I look horrible in person?"

The way in which he said it didn't sound complimentary to me.

The Blonde

Random rant

Why did this guy approach the desk and just decide to share his craziness with me.

The patron approached the desk and just looked at me. He didn't say anything for 3 seconds. Finallly, I asked, " Do you need help finding a book?"

Patron, " Um, no.........Oh yes, I do need a book."

Me: "Do you know the title or the subject that you are looking for?"

Patron: "No, yes............I want a grammar book........No, I want to know about sentence structure..................."

I began looking for a title that discussed grammar. I found some titles and was about to print them.

Patron: "Oh, no, I want to know how to better understand what I read."

Me: "So you want something in regard to reading and comprehension?"

I began looking for that type of book and abandoned the search for a grammar book.

Patron: "No, I want a book on how to read faster"

Me: "So you want a book that will teach you how to speed read?"

Patron: "No, I want to learn to read faster!"

Me: "Yes, that is called speed reading."

I find a title, print out the information and take him to the section where the book is shelved.

I tell the patron, "This is the section where you want to be. There are grammar and reading books."

I return to the desk and the patron followed me.

Patron: " I want another book. I want one on grammar."

I searched for a specific title and told him, "It's in the same section we just left and I told you that you would find what you needed there. No, you decided to follow me back to the desk instead of just looking for what you needed."

****The grammar books were on shelf above the speed reading books. Yes, I know this is a part of the job that I have chosen, but does it mean they are allowed to drive me crazy?

Did I make you mad, or did I hurt your feelings?

Actually, I don't care, as long as it means you will stop asking me questions that you should already know the answer to.

Sundays are usually pretty odd/hectic here. We are short staffed on the weekends, but Sundays especially. There are only three of us who have chosen this as our regularly scheduled workday.

Problems arise when one of us has a scheduled vacation day, or calls in sick. Well yesterday fell into this category. One of us had a vacation day. This meant that we had more part-time temporary as needed librarians on the schedule.

Well......I worked with one in particular for two hours. 1/2 hour into our second hour together, I was tired of her lazy mess. I began answering her questions without even looking in her direction or away from the computer terminal.

After the patron left, she sauntered over to my side of the desk and said, "You know us T.E.A.N.'s have a hard time"

The sentence is incomplete because I stopped her right there and said, "Yeah well, you know that isn't going to fly with me because I did what you do!"

She then asked, " Oh, you were a PTAN?"

My answer, "Yes, for 3 years and I worked in the branches. 23 of the 27(now 28,) to be exact.

Her next question, " And, you remembered everything?"

My response, "Yes, everything!"

She went back to her side of the desk and didn't ask me another question.

(I used two different terms for the part-time librarian because they were called PTAN's during the time that I was one and now they are called T.E.A.N.'s.)

The woman mentioned in this post has worked here part-time for more that 10 years and she is in this department at least three times per week. She does the same thing to everyone, I just got feed up yesterday and said something. Hopefully, she will remember not to ask me anymore questions.

New beginings, but not really

This is how my first hour on the reference desk began........................

She exited the elevator with shems in tow. She,s the teenage version of the f**hag. I head her before I saw her.

They claimed some internet terminals and one of the shems approached me. I asked if reference help was needed? I was told yes, but um, no question followed. I then told shem#1 that I couldn't help if he didn't know what he wanted. Shem then said, " I'll be back when I figure out what it is that I want." As shem#1 is leaving, the hag starts speaking to him loudly at a distance that didn't require that volume.

I looked at her like she had a problem and returned to the terminal. She had the nerve to then say, "NO, THAT BITCH DIDN'T JUST LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT AND TURN AWAY!!! She didn't stop there, she kept talking mess.

So, I walked over to her and said, "If you call me out of my name one more time, you will be leaving here!!!" She had the nerve to say that I was being rude when I looked at her. I told her that I wasn't being rude, but she was being very loud and that is the reason I looked at her in the first place.

She kept talking mess, but she didn't call me out of my name and she lowered her volume. Her two shem friends would quiet her whenever it seemed her volume was starting to get out of hand.

I don't have a problem being called a BITCH, because I know that I can seem that way to others, I just don't want to be called out of my name a whole bunch of times.

I read this article after this incident.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/02/MNGT0NBEFP1.DTL