Miss Information is annoyed by cell phones. Still.
Miss Information’s grandfather always told her that you can’t legislate civility. Well, she wants to try anyway. The library where she works is very friendly and wants everyone to be happy. Therefore the enforceable rules are few and far between. Instead of rules there are suggestions. The library encourages you to not get into fist fights with other patrons. The library recommends that you not eat near the computers. The library thinks it would be nice if you turned your cell phones off while you were in the library, but whatever.There is one regular customer whose ringtone is pushing Miss Information to the brink of violence. The library does have fairly strict rules for employee ethics and going all Terminator on a patron’s ass is expressly forbidden. She’s been fighting these urges all week but is losing patience quickly.
So, Guy With The Cell Phone That Has The Stupid Rooster Crowing Ringtone please set your phone to vibrate when you’re in the library. Also, you get too many damn phone calls! You're making the library sound like a barnyard at dawn! Can’t some of those people call you at home, leave a message maybe? You could call them back later, you know, when you aren’t in the library?
Miss Information doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life in prison breaking rocks next to Paris Hilton and she is very close to beating you senseless with the industrial sized hole punch.
5 Comments:
Can the library not post a (an eye-catching) sign saying something to the effect of, "cel phone use is not allowed in the library... ...and cel phones must be turned off, or set to silent/vibrate mode...." ?
Sure, enforcing a rule like this is another story, but at least it could be a start. Now ya could say something like, "Please... for the comfort of, and courtesy to, other library patrons (and staff), blah, blah, blah, don't use your damn cel-phones in the library... Thank you and have a nice day :-) " The only thing that charles m. doesn't like about that, is this: Now you're justifying the request. Where as a flat-our "Ix-Nay on celphones or you will be severely chastised by Miss Information, and given the bum's rush, with a boot in the behind that you won't forget!" see, doesn't leave any room for negotiating. Or, "... if Cel Phone Rule (Number X) is violated, said cel phone(s) will be confiscated, dismantled, discombobulated, and otherwise disconnected" ... charlem
And *what* is this inane and utterly graphomanic tirade posted by "anonymous?" It seems like some religeous, (if you can call him/her that) zealot has busted into and on to the blog. The post has nothing to do with Miss Information's original entry (May 19) on cel-phone library use. charlesm
When I looked at the comment spam yesterday, it was much shorter. I've never been able to go back and change my comments . . . I guess I am not smart enough to be a spammer.
As for cell phone-talkers they annoy me, too; I recently blogged about how I "yelled" at a guy to take it outside. Ha.
Do you rent out your hole punch?
Charles M, I too feel that signs are a wonderful thing indeed! However, I'm hard pressed to recall the last time any library patron I've dealt could actually be bothered to READ one of them....
Whenever someone comes up to our circ desk to ask about something stupid, I quite often show them the sign regarding said stupid topic that they should've read instead of interrupting us while we're trying to do some ACTUAL WORK here, and the ass-hat's (oops, "patron's") shocked reply is invariably "Oh, I didn't see that!" (Oh yes, I can see how people would miss the huge, clearly lettered sign that's STARING THEM RIGHT IN THE FACE!)
I just wish I'd gotten an e-mail or memo or something to inform me that, while all of the great unwashed are (supposed to be) welcome in the hallowed halls of our great library, for gawd's sake we mustn't ever expect them to READ!
(Man, what was I thinking?!)
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