Everyone is always surprised when I hurt myself at my job. Libraries seem like a safe place, besides the occasional paper cut, right? But it's just the opposite. I'm constantly dodging falling books, and sometimes the shelves jump out and bite.
Well, not really.
But one time, I was putting away books and I snagged my finger on a loose screw sticking out of the shelf. It didn't seem like a big deal until I noticed I was bleeding. A lot. It had ripped quite a bit of skin out of place. I was walking back to see if we had band aids anywhere, and that volunteer guy who asked me out on a date (before that happened though) saw me and asked what was wrong so I showed him. He said "Wow. How did you do that? Was it from punching that guy?" (This was an allusion to the old man with the horrible joke, which I still have yet to tell...)
Just recently, I had another shelf attack. I bumped my finger but then noticed it hurt a lot more than if I had actually just bumped it. I looked closer and realized there was a paint chip from the shelf jammed under my fingernail. How did that happen? I didn't even care. I just wanted it OUT OF THERE. I tried not to run over to the circulation counter, and had to wait for what seemed like forever for one of my coworkers to be free. I had no idea where to find some tweezers, because that was the only thing that was going to get it out. Then when they finally were able to pay attention to me, they stood around discussing the possible options and came back to me with giant scissor looking things. There was no way I was trying to get this tiny paint chip shoved in such a sensitive spot with those monstrosities. Finally, I got my hands on some tweezers and had it out in a few seconds.
This just goes to show you that the library is anything but safe.
And I wasn't kidding about dodging falling books. It seriously does happen.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Funny People
Sometimes, I get to hear the funniest things from the people who come into the library. Only, sometimes I can't laugh because it's only funny to me, not to them. That is probably one of the most difficult things I have to do.
One day, a man came in and asked me where he might find books on plumbing. I usually don't ask why people are looking for a certain book, unless it really captures my interest, but sometimes they'll just volunteer the information. I showed him the plumbing books, and he said "Oh, yeah, this is great, thanks. My wife fell on the bathtub faucet and broke it right off."
You can see why this is funny, right? I imagined so many different scenarios in my head, all of them hilarious, but all I could say to him was, "Well, I hope you can find what you need here."
But if your wife is that clumsy and has enough girth to break the faucet right off, no book is going to help you.
I have one other moment like this that I can remember off the top of my head. A guy came in and had looked up the number for a book, but couldn't find it, so he wanted me to help him. What was the book? It was about bigfoot. Again, I don't need to know why you are looking for a book on a mythical creature, but sure, feel free to explain yourself anyway.
"Yeah, uh, it's not for me, it's for my stupid friend. Yeah, he's high all the time. Thinks he saw something."
That is the one time I nearly lost it and laughed in a person's face. The way he said it, the whole idea of his "friend" thinking he saw something that was almost certainly bigfoot, well, it was almost too much for me to handle that day.
One day, a man came in and asked me where he might find books on plumbing. I usually don't ask why people are looking for a certain book, unless it really captures my interest, but sometimes they'll just volunteer the information. I showed him the plumbing books, and he said "Oh, yeah, this is great, thanks. My wife fell on the bathtub faucet and broke it right off."
You can see why this is funny, right? I imagined so many different scenarios in my head, all of them hilarious, but all I could say to him was, "Well, I hope you can find what you need here."
But if your wife is that clumsy and has enough girth to break the faucet right off, no book is going to help you.
I have one other moment like this that I can remember off the top of my head. A guy came in and had looked up the number for a book, but couldn't find it, so he wanted me to help him. What was the book? It was about bigfoot. Again, I don't need to know why you are looking for a book on a mythical creature, but sure, feel free to explain yourself anyway.
"Yeah, uh, it's not for me, it's for my stupid friend. Yeah, he's high all the time. Thinks he saw something."
That is the one time I nearly lost it and laughed in a person's face. The way he said it, the whole idea of his "friend" thinking he saw something that was almost certainly bigfoot, well, it was almost too much for me to handle that day.
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