She's Baaaaack......

I never remember what summer's REALLY like until it begins. I have to wonder: what shape will it take once my kids are grown up and gone?

I went to work last night with just about the worst hair I can remember having. This is why I need to hack most of it off: once it grows longer than an inch or two, it develops an attitude. I looked like the wrath of God and was irritable all evening. We've put a mirror behind the discharge computer (cool. Permits us to see if a customer has approached while our backs are turned) and every time I ran some item past the scanner I'd see my furrowed brow, surrounded by this...fright wig. Things seem back to normal today, coif-wise, but my eyes are watering to the degree that I appear to be very upset by something (my hair! Ha ha) and my eyeliner is washing off as soon as I reapply. And reapply. And reapply.

We ("we." Ha. My husband said, several weeks ago, that he thought we should have some plants hanging from our porch. I agreed and threw out an opinion or two- ferns! Nice fluffy ones!- but he thought something with flowers blah blah blah. Long story short: after weeks of this just not getting off the ground, I finally bought two fuschias, then the hardware to hang them, then hung them) hung some plants from our porch and I must say they look nice. I don't seem to have that "house beautiful" gene so they're barely adequate ( e.g., still in the white plastic baskets they came in when I bought them, at a discount, from Giant Eagle) but nobody's pointed and laughed yet when passing by my house so I guess they'll do.

Had an incident or two last night which could've been avoided had the people in question HAD THEIR LIBRARY CARDS WITH THEM when the y came TO THE LIBRARY.

Back On The Chain Gang

Okay: I took a nice long break from formal work while raising my kids (ho ho: as if that job is done) so maybe I'm still in a honeymoon phase, but..... I'm surprised anew every day that I arrive at my current job and am still as excited to be there as I was the day I started. It's not like it's always easy/pleasant/fulfilling, necessarily, but I seem to've found my niche. I still can't believe I get PAID to service my addiction (that would be my PRIMARY addiction: books. Books. Boooooooooks) and was a bit unsettled to discover, during my vacation this past week, that I actually missed...my...job.

I went directly from work to my brother-in-law's 50th birthday party tonight (I've become someone who has engagements IMMEDIATELY AFTER WORK, which isn't always......fun) and brought my girls home not too long into the evening. What this family needs is some grandchildren. We seem to be in a holding pattern of blandness while our kids mature, though, God willing, not TOO soon. The granddaughter of a friend was there tonight (gorgeous little child; smart and polite, too. Her parents are divorcing now, after...I don't know. Yes, they were very young, but I can't convince myself that those marriages are doomed to failure) and it gives me an odd feeling to realize that while I'm anticipating that next step, some of my own peers are just starting their own families. Yeeeesh. I wouldn't want to start over again, but what would I know, if I didn't already have a half-grown family? Forty isn't considered "old" now, gestationally. Huh. I don't want to sound ageist, but....it's a young woman's game. In my opinion.

Really, Now: Is This Too Much To Ask?

Please.....PLEASE....bring your library card when you come to the library. I swear: you would not believe how many people assume that no card is needed to check out/renew/look up their account/use the computers. Yes, we can use your license to check out (although I think we shouldn't: you can't hand your library card to a cop when he pulls you over) but the process is simpler if you have your card: your library card. After all, you're at the LIBRARY. Checking out LIBRARY BOOKS.

It's been a day for wacky transactions. We've started a "renew everything" policy when dealing with phone renewals, as these can be time-consuming ("...and I think I have something due on the 3rd but I want everything due on the 6th so I can keep track blah blah blah") if the customer has lots of items with different due dates. So when you tell the person, "Okay, I've renewed all your items and they're now due on th-" nine times out of ten they'll snap, "But I didn't want EVERYTHING renewed!" Well...um....why not? It'll save you from calling back two days from now.

Another interesting conversation I kept having today was the my-internet-was-down-so-I-couldn't-renew-and-I'm-not-paying-the-fine. Hmmm. I have a certain amount of sympathy, buuuuuutttttt......we really don't forgive fines for that reason. Or because your phone was disconnected and you couldn't call. Or you went out of town and assumed that since you weren't home to return your items, we would waive the fine. THEN I heard this today: "What, there's no grace period between when these were due and when you start charging?!" Why, sure there is! It's that two weeks you had the books out!

Holiday Curse

Busy day yesterday. I didn't start until four but could tell immediately what'd been going on: lots of business and the phone ringing off the hook. It continued until closing, when we had a classic scenario: group back in DVD who had to be told we were closed after multiple PA announcements, then when they came to the desk the one trying to check out (after a computer was turned back on to accommodate her)had a big fine on her card. One of her friends checked out instead and had a more reasonable fine (one that didn't block her check-out) and wanted to pay it, but we'd shut down the cash register already: it was well after nine pm at this point. I don't know what it is about a holiday that guarantees mayhem the next open day, but it seemed as though every transaction involved lengthy discussion/complications/oddball circumstances. I was on the phone so long with this one nice elderly lady that when I hung up my ear was sore. SHE wanted to know if the gift shop had a cart of hardcover books out for sale. Well, no. For one thing, it was 8:55 pm and the shop was closed, but I'd seen the cart and it's all children's videos right now, which she wanted to discuss in detail after I'd confirmed that there were no books for sale that day. She wasn't, like, trying to be impossible, but my word: the circular, endless conversation/speculation about the cart and when there'd be what she wanted on it and how often did it change and why wasn't the store open all the time: yeeeesh. She decided to call back today and find out if there were hardcover books on the cart at that time and will get to talk to someone who isn't me as I won't be there: I'm going to Cuyahoga Falls. Thank God.

Coincidence

A little boy who apparently meets his tutor at the library has become more and more troublesome lately: in the building for hours on end; loud, hyper....he's obviously disabled in some fashion and is very, very odd. Creaky little voice. Bounces off the walls. Nice enough kid.... probably shouldn't be at loose ends, but that's really none of our business: we don't provide supervision to minors. At least he's here during the day and not after school, when I wouldn't trust our regular crowd to treat him appropriately. Yesterday the decision was made to ignore him unless his behavior was overly disruptive, then, if need be, we're to ask him for his parents' name/phone number. There was a certain amount of discussion about whether or not he'd be capable of relaying the information and/or becoming overly upset by being approached (truly, he is a strange child) but that's the plan.

This morning as I was slumped morosely over a cup of coffee while my bath filled, regretting the decision to take a sinus caplet at bedtime the night before (always a trade-off: is it worth it to be able to breathe if I can't sleep?) Nate came in from his run and told me he was going to take the van and get a mile-check on how far he'd gone. Even though I was already pressed for time, I said I'd ride along. Ten minutes into the drive, I heard a familiar voice calling a dog, and who do I see out my window? Our unattended minor, standing on the porch of a little blue house. I made note of the address and was able to figure out his probable name and phone number....just in case. Poor lamb.

I was filling Nate in on why this little boy had caught my attention, and he asked what he'd looked like. HE'D stopped by the library Thursday night just in time to see our security guard (Larry. He's great) boot this smart aleck out and wondered if it could be the same kid. After I'd stopped howling with laughter and slapping my thigh- the same child! Well, no. That would be too much of a coincidence, and besides: drop by any time and you stand the chance of seeing some wanna-be delinquent mouthing off to Larry. This child is something else entirely. He's not deliberately doing anything "bad" (unlike the brat Nate observed being ejected. He had quite a bit to say about this child's behavior) and isn't trying to draw attention to himself, which makes it harder to know what to do. Too, there's an I-know-we're-not-providing-baby-sitting-service-to-this-kid-but-how-do-we-stand-by-and-ignore-the-obvious-benign-neglect-going-on-here issue: we run into this rather more frequently than we'd like. If this child were mine and I assumed he was behaving appropriately while out of my sight, I would want to know if he wasn't. On the other hand, I've put a lot of thought and effort into giving my own nutty child what I hope is an appropriate degree of independence and wouldn't want anyone else second-guessing my decisions....unless she was behaving imappropriately while I wasn't around. Hmm. Hmmm. HMMMMM. Well: not our responsibility.

Tuesday Again

Had a nice run of almost-too-busy last night: good. We've had some suspiciously quiet days lately but I figure people are just getting used to the decent weather and will return. Summer Reading's coming up, too, which brings in the hordes. We had our last Sunday hours until Labor Day this past weekend, which is great, free-timewise, but a bit of a blow to the budget. I'll miss that time-and-a-half.

I dropped the kids at school today, finally doing our part to conserve gasoline. My van is more efficient than the wagon and the kids can walk home. I'm still debating walking to work vs. driving: this seems obvious: my workplace is two blocks down the street from my house, right? But I have kids at school, which means that when I get that call ("Mom, I threw up." "Mom, I'm in violation of the dress code." "Mom, I forgot my _________." "Mom, my glasses broke. Again.") I have to return home, get my van, and THEN deal with the problem. I'd be more willing to roll those dice if this hadn't already happened to me more than once. At least then, I was paging and could leave: circulation's not like that. I've had a nice long streak of not having to deal with child-related "emergencies" while at work- knock wood- since I moved behind the desk, but I still worry.

Speaking of: Hannah was trying to bum a pencil off Sarah in the van this morning. That girl is going to be the death of me: a day late and a dollar short, all day, every day. Sarah didn't have one to lend (by "lend" I mean "never see again") so I don't know what Hannah's going to do. I keep repeating my Hannah mantra ("this is not YOUR problem........not YOUR problem......nnnnooooott.... yooouuuuuurrrrrrr........proooooooobbbbbblllleeeemmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...") but I can't help but be concerned and irritated: if she gets into trouble for not having a pencil, that's a moronic reason for being called on the carpet. HER problem, though, and not mine. Nooootttttt.....miiiinnnnneeeee...........

Gee, Thanks For Volunteering!

I worked the drive-through (thanks, Trissa and Beth!) the entire shift today in order to avoid contact with the person heading up our Book Sale. I felt kind of sheepish- whenever I'm not in actual contact with her, I have a hard time recalling what it's like when I am- so my presence can't be blamed for her behavior today: she was demanding and argumentative. She was mean to one of our regular customers; a nice man who's.....challenged. She tee-d off on why the sale wasn't attended well (I have my own theory, backed up by what I heard at the grocery store tonight, where I- of course- went right after work. "_______!" I said, spying someone whom I know always looks forward to the sale. "Did you buy some good books?" "Are you kidding?" she replied. "Do you know who was running it? No way was I going there. No thanks.") which, as she loudly declaimed, was the fault of someone other than the Friends of the Library: it was the library itself. We apparently were in charge of publicity and dropped the ball. Hmmm. Hmmm. HMMMMMMM.

Book Hell

Second day of the Book Sale and it's worse than the day before: constant demands by the people running it, who aren't exactly being....concerned....that we have customers to serve. Yes, this organization serves a function, and an important one. BUT: as with every volunteer group with which I've ever had an affiliation, there are volunteers and then there are VOLUNTEERS. The first category seems to be able to keep things in perspective: they see their role as support for the parent organization. The second category....oy. There's a type of person who can't function in a "supportive" capacity and has to push continually to be seen as "in charge." I used to think, "Okay. So these people are annoying and rude. They get stuff done, though." I've since revised this assumption: these people (at least the ones with whom I've had the pleasure to serve) by and large are accomplishing no more than their non-pushy/mouthy/self-aggrandizing brethren: they just create so much noise and activity that they seem to be natural leaders. The end result, sadly, is that less aggressive members of the group begin to quietly resign, leaving only those who're hooked on the perception that they're "important." Pretty soon you're all chiefs and no indians, which isn't conducive to running much of anything.

Sale seems to be drawing a pretty nice crowd, anyway. Yesterday was kind of slow.

No "Friend" Of Mine

Hmmm. The book sale is going on right now and has proved to be....interesting. The person heading it up is abrasive and bossy and there's this climate hanging over it that's just sort of odd. It doesn't help that this woman is my neighbor and has had a long history of trouble with not only me but every person who lives in our neighborhood: what on earth is she doing running a book sale? It's obvious that she's not particularly well-liked by the other members of the organization, and her officious rudeness to the desk staff isn't going over very well, either. Huh. It's an odd situation.

The internet has been down all day today and the place is all but deserted. Spooky.

...And A Not-So-Funny Transaction

One day this week while I wasn't at work, a customer pulled up to the window poorly and got out of her car to get her books and locked her keys in her (running) car. Could happen to anyone, right? Tied up the window for quite some time before her husband came to rescue her and etc., but what are you going to do? Everyone does something dumb from time to time. But wait! I was at the window yesterday and the same woman (had to be her. Same type of car, same maneuver- not even attempting to get close enough to conduct the transaction from her car and getting out entirely instead) puts her car about four feet from where she should be (note: I had a lot more sympathy for these drivers prior to an experiment I conducted one morning while using the bookdrop. I wanted to be able to say something like, "If you pull forward at _____ point, you can line your car up right under the window" because so many people can't make that turn. So after dropping my books, I pulled around and placed my van at the window. First try, and no problem. I did it a few more times and left with a question mark all but visible over my head: HOW could so many drivers not be able to perform this maneuver????? Particularly those who use the window ALL THE TIME??????) and gets out, reflexively going to slam her door....with the engine running and etc. I yelped ("Hey!!") and she stopped juuuuuuust in time, but instead of looking, I don't know, sheepish or whatever, she just proceeds to get her big pile of stuff from the back seat and totes it over to me where she announces that I'm to discharge it immediately and then renew what's left on her card. I start to explain that a transaction of that length isn't done at the window (she must've had thirty things piled up in front of her and two of them were kits that aren't discharged downstairs) and she cut me off with "I know the rules. There's no one behind me, so you can do it." I let my expression make my point (I hate when a customer takes this I-know-your-job-better-than-you-do attitude) and began to discharge.

When I'd heard the keys/car story, I'd wondered: who would be so....well, as soon as I realized who the party in question was, it made sense. This lady is in the library at least twice a week and isn't.....present. She's vague and easily befuddled and is the sort of person that has you wondering, "HOW does she pull it together to drive and have children and run a household?" She has several kids and one of them is just vile: raps on the desk when she comes up to check out even when you're looking right at her, is rather self-important....anywho: I discharge the materials and start the renewal process while another customer (who was trying to park) sat behind this woman's car fuming. Mrs. I Know The Rules eyes the second car, seems to decide that since that person wasn't attempting to use the window, she's under no obligation to get moving, and starts badgering me: what was I doing? Could her items renew? What did I mean, one wouldn't? Which one? Why? Which is exactly the same way she behaves inside the building, but...the whole time, there's construction going on in the adjacent parking lot, so everything I say has to be repeated even though I was practically yelling my answers ("I'M RENEWING YOUR ITEMS. I'M RENEWING. RENEWING!!!!") and the Pepsi truck is pulling into the lot. She sees him, runs to her car, puts it in gear, and takes off like a bat out of hell. All I could do was stare, open-mouthed. How do you...what can....

Here's the thing: we attempt to service an awful lot of people who aren't quite.... average. This lady, while irritating and high-maintenance, really isn't all that bad. She generally returns her things on time, sparing us the need to deal with fines (for which she- predictably- has a big problem taking responsibility) and despite her confusion/rudeness/rotten kid manages to get in and out of the building without causing a scene. Probably shouldn't use the drive-up, though. There are quite a few customers like her, actually: the Vague Moms. There's something going on there, all right, but not enough of whatever it is to keep them from living fairly normal lives. They're irritating and can be difficult to handle but are basically tolerable.

Then there's a related category of customers that constitutes a real problem: how do you handle the adult slow-average population? We have about a dozen regulars who have cards but shouldn't because they just don't "get it." ALWAYS have fines that they can't understand. Lose their cards repeatedly. Are argumentative and needy. Are forever coming up to the desk with stuff and having to be told that they can't check out until they pay _____. They need to use the phone. They need a band-aid. They want to tell you all about something you really don't want to know......

A Word About Meeting Rooms

The fact that we are able to provide meeting rooms to the public is pretty cool: great service. It does, however, lead to calls like these: "I need to know if there's going to be a meeting for a group called ______ on either May 4th or maybe it was July 22nd. I'm the leader and I think there was going to be a conflict so I want you to tell me when I can set up my glockenspiel, which I will need someone to carry from the car for me," and (this one came in Tuesday night, which- thankfully- wasn't very busy, as I was on the phone a while explaining the various reasons why this likely wasn't going to work) "I need a meeting room for a soccer team on a night when it's raining." Me: "(Puzzled silence)....I'm sorry, did you wish to reserve a meeting room?" "No, I want to bring a soccer team on a night when it's raining so they can watch a DVD. You do have a DVD player, don't you? I'll need a room big enough for thirty and-" Me: "Ma'am, the meeting rooms book in advance. There's a chance that on a given night one might be free but-" "Well, how many rooms do you have?" Me: "Two." "I'll take one for the next rainy Tuesday night and I'll need a DVD player set up." Me: "Um...I don't think...why don't I put you through to the person who coordinates the rooms (forgive me, Janet!) and you can leave a message-" "Why can't I sign up now?" Me: "I can't guarantee that you'll be able to get a room if you don't have a specific date and time in mind." "Well, why not?" Me: "It just doesn't work that way! (Deep breath) Here's how we go about reserving the rooms: __________ __________ (elapsed time approximately five minutes)__________ etc. etc. etc." "So can I have a room?" Me: "Do you have a date in mind?" "Yes, the next rainy Tuesday night, and I'll need a DVD player." Me: "............Let me explain again how this works." She didn't end up booking a room, but I thiiiiink she understood that she couldn't just show up the next rainy Tuesday and expect a room and a DVD player, although it would be kind of fun to see her square off with the head Toastmaster, ha ha.

Gee, Thanks! I Don't Know What To Say...

I went in to work early today and had plannnnned to be even earlier but home (Spring Break) was one crisis after another, so I found myself driving like a bat out of hell, then sprinting- literally- from my minivan into the building. I do NOT like to let anyone down, particularly my boss, who is a living saint, and was feeling a bit....flustered. As I went whipping through the workroom with a cart, headed for the drive-up, my buddy Tami all but ran into me: it was 9am on the nose and I had a customer: oh joy. This lady had a hold, and it was one of the ones with a blue stripe of paper and temporary barcode, with which I've dealt maybe once before. I- still clad in my coat, purse over one shoulder- start her transaction, and must've been positively buggy-eyed, because she leaned from her van, knocked on my window, and said, "I'm in no hurry." We kept up a running commentary as I sweated through her check-out (you add a temporary title, FYI) and she was nothing but kind and complimentary. I've always held a bit of a grudge against this patron (abuses her TL privileges) but we talked about my three kids, at home this week, and her home-schoolers, and I feel a tad sheepish now. She even complimented me on how "pulled together" she finds me: I love to hear this, as there's a stout little thick-glasses-ed, poorly-clad girl still lurking within. But wait!

Later, I had a patron on the phone, renewing items, and was feeling my blood pressure in my head: I had spent the morning (surreptitiously: I HATE for home to interfere with work) on the phone trying to get my kids out the door to the dentist with Isaiah providing transportation/finding out Sarah had broken her glasses. I was working overtime to be diligent and kind, and this very sweet person says to me, "I just love our library! Don't you? I can't believe we have such a wonderful library. I'm happy every time I'm there. The staff is so friendly and helpful." Awww..... I thanked her profusely and said I'd spread the word. Kind of makes up for the "What...If.....I....Don't......HAVE...A......Card?" fellow. I'm not, you know, stupid: I know that things tend to balance out, but it was sooooooo nice to hear the approbation today.