Beliefs

Well, to be honest, not much has happened that I have cared to report. Actually, I had a bad few days a while back and actually decided not to blog, just so I wouldn't be so negative!

I, of course, have been busy with things.

Last week, I went to a workshop in Columbia all about resume writing. I actually learned more than I thought I would. We also got to go to RCPL and tour their Job Center. It was pretty amazing -- they have a grant, though, and therefore have tons of resources for it.

Anyway, since then, I've been working on calendars, brochures, flyers, and such for our computer classes, which are starting back up in just a couple of weeks. I'm a little nervous about them, but I think I'll be okay. :-)

I guess I've only had two somewhat interesting encounters with patrons over the last couple of weeks:

1. A lady with a low-cut shirt and a rose tattoo on her breast came to the desk. She wanted to know the name of some singer in London (or England... she couldn't remember which one...right). She said he was pretty well known and that his first name was Alan. She insisted it was spelled A-L-L-A-N, by the way. Well, I just did some googling, because such a well known singer could theoretically be googled. Absolutely nothing. So I asked her what kind of music he sang. "Vampire." What, now? "Vampire rock." Um, sadly, there is a pretty famous Vampire Rock group in England. Also sadly, no one in it is named Allan... or Alan, or Allen. Then the lady told me she thought she remembered his last name, but she wasn't sure. She attempted to spell it for me. "F-U-C-K-B-E-...." Wait, stop right there. There is no way in hell I'm googling that!

2. Seriously, about 10 minutes ago, this lady started talking to me about how she loved reading the Word, and that if you pay attention to what's going on in Israel right now, it should be obvious that Jesus is coming back in the next 5-10 years.

As if one weren't enough....

1. A reasonably nice-looking young man came to the desk. The first thing he asked was if I was from Greenwood. I told him I was not, though I was from the area. He asked if I knew of a good place for computer repair. No clue. That's what the Yellow Pages are for -- so I pulled out the phone book for him (and even turned to the section on computer repair, how nice of me!) I also told him it might be better to ask someone more qualified, such as the dudes at RadioShack... something of that nature. Well, before I knew it, the guy was talking about going to bars and popping his female friends' bra straps. QUE? He just kept talking and talking, and his choice of topics was rather strange and slightly uncomfortable. The phone rang with the special "internal number" ring. I saw that it was my coworker from the computer lab across the room. Hallelujah! I seriously had to interrupt the guy to tell him that I had to answer the phone, because he still would not stop talking. He finally walked off when I answered the phone. My coworker, of course, just called to save me from his jabber. Library workers unite, again!

2. I actually had to shush someone today. She was talking on her mobile phone very loudly. Usually, people are fairly discreet and quiet. So, even though we have a "no cell phone" policy, I don't really say anything. But this lady was crazy loud and annoying, and having "personal" conversation. I gave her a minute to see if she would hang up, but no luck. I had to go tell her to get off the phone.

3. I ordered tickets for someone to attend the Soul Food Festival in Charlotte, NC. People are apparently assume that librarians are very trustworthy, because the man gave me his driver's license and credit card. It occurs to me now that ordering tickets for someone doesn't seem very librarian-esque... but so what? I guess it doesn't matter as long as no one else needs my help.

4. An older lady came to the desk and asked if we had any books about Richard Thomas. For a second, the name didn't register with me, but then it hit me. And guess what? We don't have any books about John-Boy Walton. I asked her if there was something specific she wanted to know about Richard Thomas. She said that, yes, she wanted to know where he was from and what he had done before The Waltons. Answer: He's from New York City and he acted in random soap operas. This seemed to satisfy her curiosity.