I am overwhelmed by the fragrance of a loud and obnoxious perfume at the moment. We can't seem to get a balance between those who will not bathe and decide to stink so the rest of us will know they are conserving water and those who feel that cologne is a good mask and replaces a bath.
I don't like strong scents anyway. I'm a soap and water kind of girl who just wants to smell clean. Here is my thought for the day.......
YOU DO NOT SMELL PRETTY WHEN I CAN SMELL YOUR PERFUME BEFORE YOU ENTER THE LIBRARY!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Does your computer have....?
The following story took place yesterday in my library. Picture it...the three o'clock rush has just begun and the third child (7th grade) has come in to use the computer. Her teacher has given her an assignment to report on the California Wildfires. Of course the child does not have a library card and needs me to log her onto the computer.
Her: I need some stuff about them fires.
Me: In California?
Her: Yeah, does your computers have the internet?
Me: Yes.
Her: Where do I find the fire stuff?
Me: I'd just go to Yahoo! News, news.yahoo.com or cnn.com.
Her: How do you spell CNN?
Me: Um, C-N-N
Her: cmn
Me: No, C-N-N.
Her: cmm
Me: No, C-N as in Nickel.
Her: Oh, cnm.
Me: No. C-Nickel-Nickel
Her: cnn
Me: Yes, now type .com
Her: .om
Me: No.... .com
Her: .moc
Me: .com It has to go in that order.
Her: Oh, my nails get in the way of typing. (she gets to the correct site) There's a picture I need.
Me: That's not in California. That's a beach house fire in one of the Carolinas.
Her: That's okay I can use it.
Okay, so now I'm sitting at my desk telling the kids who are waiting for the computer that they must wait when I see her leaving and ask if she is finished.
Her: No, I've got to go get a drink (not allowed in the library) from the store. I'll just come back and use it.
Me: You have to sign back up and wait your turn.
Her: Okay.
She brings her drink back in the library. I run her out of the library. Every time a computer comes open she wants to get on and I repeat that she must wait her turn. Finally the moment comes and I have to log her back on. She is heartbroken to learn that she only has 12 minutes left on the computer because our computers are shut down from our main library. I'm now logging other children on the computer.
Her: Hey! Hey! I can't get on that page. What was it? (I'm ignoring her because I'm helping someone else.) Hey!
Me: I'll be with you when I'm finished helping this patron. Now, how may I help you?
Her: conn.com ain't working for me.
Me: CNN.COM take out the O!
Her: Oh.
I try to walk away but she calls me back.
Her: I can't get to what I was on before. We go back to where she was and she gets upset because she can't find anything she needs. I point out to her links to a bunch of stories and her reply is, "But what do I print?"
Me: Whatever you need but you have to pay for anything you print.
Her: I need some stuff about them fires.
Me: In California?
Her: Yeah, does your computers have the internet?
Me: Yes.
Her: Where do I find the fire stuff?
Me: I'd just go to Yahoo! News, news.yahoo.com or cnn.com.
Her: How do you spell CNN?
Me: Um, C-N-N
Her: cmn
Me: No, C-N-N.
Her: cmm
Me: No, C-N as in Nickel.
Her: Oh, cnm.
Me: No. C-Nickel-Nickel
Her: cnn
Me: Yes, now type .com
Her: .om
Me: No.... .com
Her: .moc
Me: .com It has to go in that order.
Her: Oh, my nails get in the way of typing. (she gets to the correct site) There's a picture I need.
Me: That's not in California. That's a beach house fire in one of the Carolinas.
Her: That's okay I can use it.
Okay, so now I'm sitting at my desk telling the kids who are waiting for the computer that they must wait when I see her leaving and ask if she is finished.
Her: No, I've got to go get a drink (not allowed in the library) from the store. I'll just come back and use it.
Me: You have to sign back up and wait your turn.
Her: Okay.
She brings her drink back in the library. I run her out of the library. Every time a computer comes open she wants to get on and I repeat that she must wait her turn. Finally the moment comes and I have to log her back on. She is heartbroken to learn that she only has 12 minutes left on the computer because our computers are shut down from our main library. I'm now logging other children on the computer.
Her: Hey! Hey! I can't get on that page. What was it? (I'm ignoring her because I'm helping someone else.) Hey!
Me: I'll be with you when I'm finished helping this patron. Now, how may I help you?
Her: conn.com ain't working for me.
Me: CNN.COM take out the O!
Her: Oh.
I try to walk away but she calls me back.
Her: I can't get to what I was on before. We go back to where she was and she gets upset because she can't find anything she needs. I point out to her links to a bunch of stories and her reply is, "But what do I print?"
Me: Whatever you need but you have to pay for anything you print.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
I can't believe my mom reads that!
No, my mom would not be caught dead reading anything about thugs or gangstas. However, a woman came in the other day and requested some racy titles. When the books came in she sent her kids in to get them. The girls were both dressed in private school uniforms and looked at the books and said, "I can't believe she's reading that!" It was totally priceless. I would love to have heard the conversation that occurred when they got in the car.
Oops! The Movie Store sign fell off the building.
Preach on! I just read this article and think it is absolutely true. We get people all the time complaining because we charge $1.00 per day per DVD if they are late. They fuss because we don't have 75 copies of the newest movies. "I'm sorry...did the sign say 'Movie Renting Place' when you came in? I don't think so."
Friday, September 21, 2007
And you managed it how?
Now, there are many things in life that disturb me. One of which is a family called the MacNasty's. They almost look like a serious case of inbreeding. There's Mama MacNasty, Daddy MacNasty, and Junior MacNasty. Junior can do no wrong. This is one of the families who brought baby Jr. in one week before school started complaining about the summer reading list because Jr. was too busy to read. One day last week Jr. stayed out of school and got to come to the library with Mama & Daddy MacNasty. He checked out a book about sex and growing up. Mama MacNasty was very displeased by this and asked why. Jr. told her that it's because she hadn't explained it very well to him. In the middle of the library (where no one can hear you) she tells Daddy MacNasty that he needs to explain it better to Junior. Ewww......gross! I definitely did not want that mental image.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Black Folks Movies
I was told yesterday that Barbershop 2 was a "black folks' movie." I asked the patron (age 10) if that meant I was not allowed to watch it. She says, "Uh, well, uh, you know whats I mean. That's not what I says."
I am tired of people asking why we don't separate our black authors. Mostly because I don't read an author based on their color. Probably if we did separate them they would say we were discriminating. We already get that because, we "ain't got nothing black folks wants to read." The grammar I am using is not a joke. People seriously say these things to us. Then they get mad when we can't understand them.
It's also really hard to look at a person who is checking out a book by T.D. Jakes and then a book called, "Thugz and Gangstas...Lookin' fo' my Baby Daddy: an erotic tale."
I am tired of people asking why we don't separate our black authors. Mostly because I don't read an author based on their color. Probably if we did separate them they would say we were discriminating. We already get that because, we "ain't got nothing black folks wants to read." The grammar I am using is not a joke. People seriously say these things to us. Then they get mad when we can't understand them.
It's also really hard to look at a person who is checking out a book by T.D. Jakes and then a book called, "Thugz and Gangstas...Lookin' fo' my Baby Daddy: an erotic tale."
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Why bother?
Sometimes like last Friday I got to work one hour and fifteen minutes before we opened. Why? I couldn't sleep so I figured I might as well go on and get up and head to work and do some stuff there. Got a good bit accomplished. No one cared. So many times I try to go an extra step to make something nice or do something nice. No one cares. Why bother? Our city doesn't care. I have no way of moving up in this place. We don't get raises. The only time I have any real job satisfaction lately is if I can really help someone find the books or information they need. I have no satisfaction in logging people on the computer and then them get mad at me because I will only let them have 30 minutes to check their email/MySpace because there are four other people waiting to do the same thing.
The same is true for all of us in our blighted little ghetto city. Our library works like crazy and still no one cares. The only thing that matters to them is that we have computers and air conditioning.
The same is true for all of us in our blighted little ghetto city. Our library works like crazy and still no one cares. The only thing that matters to them is that we have computers and air conditioning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)