Friday, November 05, 2010

Miss Information is relieved

Miss Information up to now has been disappointed with the clientele in the new branch. They are almost insanely civilized, polite, decent. Miss Information can't work with these people. There was only one exception in her first week. A woman complained that the display unit was "low rent". Really? And how much did we charge you to come in, Your Grace? Of course, it turned out she was not from the area, just popping in for a royal tour.

So, this week, the patrons have decided to stop playing nice. There was a guy who decided his penis was so nice everyone should get a good look. Miss Information didn't have to deal with that but she did have trouble with another customer. She wanted a couple of books. The library didn't have either of the books in but could get them. The woman agreed to that plan, but then she had a question. Since this library was no damn good, perhaps Miss Information could recommend a better library. Um...what? It's a huge library, many thousands of books spread over a number of floors. The woman hasn't even gone to the shelves yet. Has she never heard of browsing? Miss Information put on her reader's advisory hat and offered to help the woman find a book. No dice. It is clear that this library sucks and the woman wasn't going to spend any more of her precious time in this dump.

Frankly, this news came as something of a relief. Miss Information would like to know why people think that they're the only ones who want to read a book, see a DVD, listen to a CD? If she had a quarter for every time someone acted shocked that there's a waiting list for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, she'd be able to retire now.

2 Comments:

At 12:49 PM, Blogger Ms Read said...

My favorite part is when they ask, "Well, why don't you just buy more copies?"

Yes, I'll just use the miniscule book budget to buy 50 copies of Sue Grafton's latest book. Everyone will be so thrilled. Thank you for showing me the light.

I wish I would have said that just one time.

 
At 6:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

We always get that from book club members who want the latest books. "Oh, I can't wait for it. I have to read it by Friday." Well then, best of luck to YOU.

 

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