Thursday, June 30, 2005

Holy mackerel, it's a library marathon!

Tomorrow marks the 5th day in a row I'm working. That may sound pretty normal to y'all "banking hours" folks, but it's a bit of a rarity in my little corner of Drudgeryville.

Five days in a row, with hours upon hours of contact with ... DUM Dum dum... The Public.

For those of you not truly aware of what The Public actually consists of, thinking that bank tellers and retail clerks deal with "the public" all the time, let me tell you... "the public" is a LOT different than The Public.

From itty bitty babies to the very very old. A lot of unkempt. More than a few unwashed. Also insane and generally wacky. Today I had to wake up a man who was sleeping in a chair next to the window. When I say sleeping, I mean snoring so loudly I could hear him at the reference desk, a good 30 or so feet away.

So I go up to the guy. He's a middle-aged black man, dressed casually but appropriately, and he is ASLEEP. I say, "Sir?" in a low tone of voice. Then I say, "Sir?" a little louder. Then, "SIR." in my big voice. Then I had to tap him on the shoulder. I hate this. He woke up and looked at me and I have never seen eyes that bloodshot, not even at a Laser Floyd show. Holy moley, this guy was LIT UP on something. I told him we don't allow sleeping in the library, so Wake Up! And he did and then he left a few minutes later. Tres bizarre.

Also, a very enthusiastic boy threw his arms around me when I managed to get him into Yahoo! Music videos. It was sweet, but he was smelly like a little sweaty boy. Also I am slightly weirded out when patrons touch me.

Bygones. Tomorrow is another day.

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