I forgot to add

I start the new gig on Saturday 11/26. Yep, right after Thanksgiving and the mandatory days off. Instead of Sunday-Thursday, I will now work Tuesday - Saturday. I told my hair dresser this past Friday and he said, "You can't go through the holidays with those roots!" He colored my hair and told me that I could send him the money.

It's Official

I signed the papers this past Tuesday, I was fingerprinted on Thursday. My first day at the old branch as the manager is this Saturday. 6 months probation, no vacation, or my probation period will be extended. I found out after all the paperwork was signed that I will only work at my branch part of the week. The other days of the week, I will float to wherever I'm needed(Oh JOY.) The Sunday staff gave me a going away party this afternoon. No food, just desserts. My co-worker(librarian) told them that I like chocolate, so there was a chocolate sheet cake, mini red velvet bundt cakes, candy, a mango cake, chocolate chip cookies. I had made them Cinnamon Rolls, not knowing that they would have all of that. I began clearing my desk. I've been at the same location for 5 years. I found stuff that I don't even remember bringing to work. I've only tackled three drawers, I have two more drawers, then the shelves. Each time I find another stack, I think to myself, "And they say my cubicle is bare, if they only knew."

I've been meaning to mention this for about 2 weeks now

One afternoon, a patron came to the reference desk and asked me where the scrap paper is. I proceeded to show him the 3x5 pieces and pointed to the bin where the 8x11 pieces are. Before I could state why I was pointing toward the other end of the desk, he began to yell. "I DON'T WANT SMALL PIECES OF PAPER. I NEED BIG PIECES OF PAPER." I explained to him that if he had let me finish explaining where the paper is located, he would have seen the larger pieces of paper. He went to get some paper, but he first had to choose each piece of paper based on the amount of print on the opposite side. As he was doing this, another patron squeesed pass him because he was blocking a walkway. This guy began yelling, " YOU TOUCHED ME, YOU WERE TOO CLOSE! YOOOOUUUU TOUCHED MEEEE, YOOOUUU TOUCHED MEEEE!" Yet another patron yells from one of the computers, "DUDE, YOU NEED TO CHILL AND TAKE A PILL WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!" The floor supervisor picked up the telephone to call security. The patron began walking toward me again and he said, "IT'S OKAY, I HAVE A PROBLEM!" I told him, "I know." She stayed on the telephone with security, so the guy started walking away from the reference desk. He turned to me yet again and said, " I HAVE A PROBLEM!" I told him, "THAT'S OBVIOUS!" As he walked away, he said, " THE PROBLEM IS THAT THERE ARE TOO MANY MEN AND I'M WRITING A SCREENPLAY ABOUT IT!"

Why did you even show up?

Sundays the library's hours are 12noon until 5pm. My co-worker arrived at noon and left at 2pm. She was complainig
About a sore throat. Now we all know that if it was sore at noon, it was sore when you woke up.


Today, yet another co-worker announces at 9:15am that she's leaving to go to the docter and will return by 1pm. We start work at 9am and the library opens at 10am on Momdays.

Both of these women left me wondering why they even bothered to come to work.

Yes, they both have a history of calling-in sick. I can't believe they think leaving early is much better than calling in sick. In both
instances, they are causing a shortage in reference desk coverage.

We found someone's stash

Wednesday, my co-worker went to service the self check-out station. It was a paper jam of some sort.

He unlocked the lid to the receipt paper and he found two morphine pills. I said whoever stashed them there wasn't thinking longterm. The lid has a lock on it and the opening is short and very narrow.


I interviewed for a promotional position last week. I had my second interview this week. I was told that I should have an answer next week. This particular promotion would mean me working in the hood (at the same branch as before)again.

It feels odd, but I look forward to the possiblity of walking to work again. I don't look forward to the creeps though.

New Copiers

We have new copy machines. These are special, you can print from the internet computers, you can scan, email, and fax documents, in addition to making black/white copies, or color copies.

Management said they're cheaper. They are also a headache for the staff and the patrons.

The machines don't take change. You can only use a copy card which can be purchase for $1. All day long:
But I only need 1 copy.

I don't have small bills.

Why do I need a copy card.

Why doesn't anyone know how to work these things.

Why can't we use the old printers (they are still on the floor, in the same spot.)

Blogger is not my friend tonight

I have retyped this post three times and lost it two times, the other time, I could make any corrections, so I deleted.

For the past month or so, there were protests across the street from my job. These protests occurred on Mondays only. The first Monday, I waited 45 minutes for a outbound bus. The protest are against BART, but after an hour, they were taking there movement to Market Street. This meant that they were blocking traffic. There wasn't anything going outbound.

Two weeks ago, I saw three nude men standing in front of the Orpheum Theater. I turned to check and see if the foot patrol had passed and in their place were the nude men.

Unfortunately for the men, there were four teenage girls. The girls proceeded to clown the men. According to the girls, the private parts on display were extremely small. I heard loud laughter and then....."

I've been holding out!

I've had this since Thursday evening. My co-worker walking into the library behind this individual this past Wednesday morning around 11:15am. My co-worker said the guy was just walking around on the first floor.

I never saw him on the 3rd floor, so I don't know how long he stayed in the building.

I'm glad that it wasn't me!

Yesterday morning, the teen librarian was checking the teen center, to make sure everything was okay. You know, no perverts hanging out, no criminal behavior, things of that nature.

What you ask did she stumble upon for me to entitle this post "I'm glad it wasn't me?"

As she cleared the stacks, she saw two teens, a male and a female. The male was sitting on the desk facing the female. The female was sitting in a chair facing the male. Her head was in his lap.............FACE DOWN.........Yes, you read that correctly.

Sitting near them were some develop mentally disabled adults and their monitor.

What did the librarian do, you're wondering? She screamed, "WHAT THE HELL DO ARE YOU DOING!!!" She starttled the teens, knocked the monitor out of her daze, and caused the security officer to run over to the area.

The security officer took over the situation from there.........The teens claimed that the female was simply "resting her head."

The teen librarian felt guilty the rest of yesterday and most of today. She said it was because of the way in which she reacted. I told her that I thought it was the way in which I think a lot of librarian's would react. Today, I told her that I don't curse, but I'm pretty sure that I would have yelled.

Today, the teens returned. When the same librarian approached them because they were yelling, the male told her that she should appologize for her language yesterday. She did appologize to the teens, and they in turn appologized to her. They're sticking to their story that all the female was doing, was resting her head in the male's lap, face down.

Change is around the corner

My supervisor is retiring in two weeks. This means that our floor will then be short two supervisors. It also means that his work schedule is up for grabs. I found out today that the most unreliable supervisor will take over his schedule.

This is the same woman who scheduled herself to work one Sunday and didn't show up (She didn't call either.) The following Tuesday, she arrived to work and said, "OH, I forgot." Really, and you're a part of the management team? She was the acting Chief of the Library that day. This not only put a strain on our floor, but the whole library. A manager from a different floor had to step in and be the acting Chief. It left my floor short staffed. We had to scramble and put together a new desk schedule, in addition to closing one of the reference desk. It is my opinion that this woman shouldn't be allowed to work a Sunday shift EVER!

When my co-worker told me that the lady decided that she wanted to be the Sunday Floor Manager, I said, "Well that's not going to do us any good. We will be all alone again."

It was already bad, but ........

I had just finished telling my co-worker that I wasn't feeling well. Dealing with messy patrons was not something I felt like dealing with.

One of the pages came over to tell me that he had awakened a patron who then began cursing at him.

I walked with the page back toward where the patron was sitting. As I approached the patron, he began yelling at the page that he didn't have to go and tell on him.

I explained to the patron that the page was only doing what I or any other staff member would have done when he woke him up. The patron was yelling, "YALL AIN'T BOTHERING NONE OF THESE OTHER PEOPLE! WHY DID HE HAVE TO POINT ME OUT?"

I said, "You were sleeping and it's against the library rules and regulations to sleep inside of the library." I repeated this at least 3 times, because the patron kept asking why he had to be awakened.

He then said, "I just got off work, and I was trying to get some sleep before I got on BART." For the 4th/5th time, I said, "Sleeping isn't allowed inside of the library!"

The whole time that I was talking to the patron, he kept cursing at the page. I finally walked back toward the reference desk, so that I could call security. The patron apologized to me as I was walking away. He said that he wasn't cursing at me, he was taling to him(the page.)

Well........I never made that call to security........because when I got about 5 aisles away........ I heard, "Step up then!!" Who said that you ask?.......... The page said that. I turned around and rushed back toward the patron because I knew those where fighting words.

What do I see? The patron was in the page's face yelling for him to do something. I jumped in between them. Facing the patron, I said, "You will not be DOING anything in here. You have two choices, 1. Sit back down, or 2. Leave. I don't care which one you choose, but you won't be doing anything else."

He yells at me, "Why are you talking to me, you need to be talking to him(the page.)"

I told him that I would speak to the page, but I first had to take care of him. The patron was still lunging toward the page. Then all of a sudden, he turned, got his stuff and said he was leaving.

I got right in front of him, walking backwards, to make sure he didn't sneak in a punch to the page. As we passed the page, he lunged toward him (with me right with him, blocking the page,) and said, "Fu*k yo job and see me outside. I bet I whoop yo a*s."

I once again, began guiding the patron toward the elevators. He was cursing the page the whole time, but I stayed on him, nudging him forward. When we got about halfway, my co-worker approached us and said, "I think it's best that you just leave. The elevators are that way."

The patron replied, "Fu*k you,BITCH!" My co-worker said, "I'm calling security on you!" The patron told him, "CALL THEM FAG*OT!"

An elderly African American woman was standing at the reference desk and she said, "You need to just go ahead and leave." The patron told her, "You a B*tch too, because you taking the fag*ot's side." We had finally made it to the elevators, when my supervisor arrived.

The patron asked him if he was a manager. My supervisor said that he is(he's the acting floor manager because our mgr is on vacation.) The patron told him that he wanted to complain about the page because he threatened him.

Thankfully, security stepped off the elevator at that time and took over. The patron went into the security office to file a complaint against the page. I had to file a incident report. My co-workers kept asking me all day, "Were you scarred? Are you okay?" I kept telling them that I was fine because the patron wasn't directing anything at me. I was only involved because it's our job to protect the page staff.

I knew the page didn't know what he was doing/saying, when he told the patron to step up. It turns out, the page was trying to tell the patron to step up and be a man. As I completed the incident report, my supervisor explained to the page what step up means to certain individuals.

The page kept apologizing to all of the librarians involved in the incident and especially me.

Ummmm......And That Makes You Special .....Really

I took 3 days off, so I've been gone from this place for 5 days. My first day back, my first hour at the reference desk had just ended. My co-worker who had come to relieve me, went to wake up a patron.

The interaction was taking a little longer than usual. It turns out the 20-something didn't think the library's rules applied to him, because according to him, he's not homeless. SAY WHAT NOW???

As she awakened the patron from his sleep, she informed him that patrons aren't allowed to sleep in the library. His response, "Oh, but I'm not homeless!"

With a straight face, she informed him once again, that sleeping isn't allowed in the library.

Aggressive Panhandler

Yesterday, the floor manager asked when he came to the reference desk to relieve me, if security had been inside the Education Center. I told him that I had seen the security guard, but I didn't see him go toward the Education Center.

He told me that there was a man in there eating and he had called for a security guard to speak with him.

I'm in charge of the Education Center, so I went to see if the guy was still in there. I had sent a woman in there to look at some college handbooks and I wanted to make sure he wasn't bothering her.

We have a two-sided sign on the table in the Education Center that says you can only be in the room if you are using the education reference materials.

The woman wasn't in there. I see the guy and he's slouched and eating. He has broken chips and crumbs all down the front of his jacket. I asked him if he was using the materials in the room. He shows me a magazine that was from another floor. I told him that he could only be in there if he was using the materials in that room, while showing him the sign. As he was speaking, I noticed food in his mouth. I told him that eating wasn't allowed inside the library. He told me don't insult him and myself. He also stated that a security officer had already been in there to speak with him, so he didn't understand why I was bothering him.

This man stands across the street from the library almost everyday. He isn't there payday(the 1st of the month,) and about 2-3 days afterward. Every time he sees me, he asks me for money. I give him none. He then says that I know I can give him some money. I usually look at him like he's crazy. He will then tell me that I don't need to look at him like that.

When he comes into the library, he is always breaking the rules. When I catch him and tell him that what he's doing isn't allowed, he always talks loud and tries to go off. I will call security and he usually leaves before they get there. He will not say anything to me outside after he's had outburst in the library.

I told my co-worker that he's going to catch me on the wrong day and I'm going off on him. He only talks smack to the black folks when they don't give him any money or pay any attention to him.

What did you say?

This white woman walked up to me at the refence desk and said, "I'm not a RACIST, YOU ARE! Can you tell
me where I can find the St*r W*rs graphic novels?"

I steeped back and gave her a side-eye(the Assistant Chief of the library and my Floor Manager were standing near me.)

I walked toward the books and the woman was still standing at the reference desk. I told her
that she needed to follow me. I walked over to the teen graphic novel shelves and pointe out the St*r W*rs gn's.

What I learned while trying to grill this evening

I went to a BBQ two Sundays ago, and I went to another one this past Saturday. Those two events inspired me to BBQ today. This isn't something I do often, because I hate the way the smell gets in your clothes and your hair. I just end up feeling grimy.

On to what I learned. I lit the charcoal bricks and the flames grew fast. I threw the cover on the grill and the flames died just as fast. I mean very few bricks glowing. Those that were glowing, were barely hanging on. These were the pre-treated bricks. You are supposed to be able to light them and not worry about your fire.

The fire kept going in and out. I tried lighting paper and tossing it in with the charcoal, nothing happened.

Finally, I asked my Mom what did they do before lighter fluid. She told me that her grandmother threw bacon grease on charcoal before lighting it. We didn't have any bacon grease. Low and behold, vegetable oil works just as good. That fire was burning in no time flat. The smell isn't as gross as that of lighter fluid.

Why would you get THAT drunk?

A patron approached my co-worker at the reference desk. He wanted to use one on the internet computers. The man was beet red in the face.

When the man walked away, I said, "He was really drunk." My co-worker asked, "Oh, can you smell it over there?" I said, "No, he's just so red."

The patron logged onto a computer and five minutes later, he was gone. My co-worker had walked the floor and when he finished, he asked me who was on computer #314. I told him that it was the drunk guy. I wondered aloud, "Where could he have gone?" My co-worker said, "Well, he left a bag in the seat and he's still logged onto the internet."

I said, "Watch, he's going to return and not remember what computer terminal he was at."

The patron returned to the floor after another 10 minutes. He went to the online catalog and stood there.

I asked my co-worker, "What is he doing?"

My co-worker said, "He did like you said, he can't remember where he was."

The man stood there for about three minutes. He then approached me at the reference desk. He tried to straighter himself up and look sober. He said, "Um, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I don't remember what computer I was on."

I told him #314. He said, "OH, you remember me?" I just said told him yes. When he walked away, I said, "How could I forget?" I asked my co-worker, "Why would you get that drunk?"

He wasn't one of our regulars. He had on a blazer, dress shirt and slacks. It was in between 1-2pm.

I get a 3 day weekend

I know it doesn't mean anything to most people, but I'm so HAPPY!!!

My work schedule is Sunday through Thursday, so when everyone else has a 3 day weekend, mine is broken. We're almost always open on Sunday. The one exception is G*y Pr*de Weekend. From experience, management has learned that parade Sunday is too much for the library.

For the past 4 years, I have looked forward to the last Sunday in June.

The bus driver redeemed herself

This morning when I turned the corner she was just pulling off. When she got closer to where I was, she opnened the door for me.

Really? It's one of those days

I woke up this morning and thought it was my off day(tomorrow.)

I missed the bus I normally catch. The driver turned the corner, honked the horn and waved at me.

I sit down at my desk, search my purse and realize that I left the key to my desk at home.

I know that it's been a while

But, guess what? I hate logging onto the computer once I get home. I hate typing post on my blackberry while at work.

I sit in front of a pc while at my desk in the staff area. When at the reference desk, I'm either sitting or standing in front of a pc. By the time I get home, I don't want to go in the 2nd bedroom and sit in front of yet another pc.

It's not that there hasn't been a lot to share.

There's the incident where a patron's dogged jumped up and took another patron's identification out of my hand. I was trying to wake up the owner of the dog, because he needed to gain better control of the dog. The dog was laying in the middle of an aisle. The leash was attached to the dog. The owner had his foot on the leash, but it didn't prevent the dog from walking into the aisle and blocking it. Someone trying to walk past, would have to either step on the leash, or step over the dog.

The newest supervisor on our floor(1 year,) has abandoned us for the 4th floor. She thinks the grass is greener. Her last day on our floor was this past Friday. Yesterday, she was back on our floor at 9:15am(we open/start at 9:00am.) 95% of our floor was through with her anyway. When she was at the reference desk, she didn't want to be bothered. She was always late when relieving another librarian from the reference desk. We try to arrive 5 minutes before our shift begins. She was always 3-5 minutes late. No, she wasn't going from one reference desk to another, she would just be at her desk doing whatever. And the complaining, it was nonstop. The bad part, she complained about her assigned duties.