Mark Twain

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.


Dorothy Parker

Ducking for apples - change one letter and it's the story of my life.


Bertrand Russell

There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.

IST 566: Do Not Kill Your Patrons


2003-04-04 at 1:32 p.m.

I was looking through the MLS course listings for grad school and I noticed that they did not offer any sort of class that would teach you how to control your temper when a patron annoys the crap out of you.

A guy who frequents my library to play computers (he's 25 and looks like he's 40)and proudly proclaims that he has never read a book willingly in his life, requested a video a few weeks ago. It arrived for him, sat on the hold shelf for a week and was sent back.

He comes back in a week later and is very angry that we did not hold it longer. It was sent from another library and our policy is that we hold it for only a week. He has no telephone (because he is a loser)and we could not reach him. Too bad so sad. Anyway, he pitched a fit and was generally unpleasant so I reordered the damn video for him. (25 year old man with no children orders Stuart Little 2, mmmhmmm)

It arrives and sits, waiting for him. Today he comes in and says, "Is there a video here for me?"

I get it for him and he says, "Send it back. I already seen it." (His bad grammar, not mine)

Now, had I not possessed nearly Buddah-like composure, I would have thrown the thing at his prematurely balding head when he told me to send it back. Luckily, I bit my lip and stayed my hand and he left, blissfully ignorant about how close I was to kicking his ass until I lost my shoe.

But still, some sort of class on patron-non-killing would come in handy.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have many wonderful patrons. They are a pleasure to deal with. And, one of the things I love about this job is how these people include me in their lives. I've heard their stories, seen their pictures, laughed with them and given them an ear to bend when they needed someone to talk to. I like it.

However, as with any job in the public service sector, I have had my share of jerks. Inconsiderate buttholes who yell at me about fines they've acquired, lose or refuse to return items, people who come in TWO MINUTES before closing and inisist on browsing the videos for fifteen minutes, the uber religuous, the hopelessly stupid or arrogant, etc. Many of these people are students at the university where I work, but there are some here in my little public library, too.

I especially hate when Christians lecture me about Jesus and my sin-filled life. Interestingly,no Jew or Muslim or Buddhist or Shintoist or Wiccan, etc. has EVER tried to scare and threaten me into going to church. I think that's very telling. I was once accosted by a Hare Krishna, but he left after I bought some beaded necklaces from him and he never told me I was going to hell.

My being lectured about Jesus has happened a few times here at the library and I find it annoying. I am not conversion fodder. I am not searching for answers. I already have them and they suit me just fine. As far as I am concerned, my relationship with God is very personal and I don't need a priest or pastor to be my middle man and I don't need to prove anything to anyone else about my social status or my piety.

Whoa. Did this turn into a rant or what?

Anyway, I'm sure everyone who has ever worked with the public has stories to tell. Every job has it's ups and it's downs, I just get to complain about mine in this journal.

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