Actually, there are a few stupid questions...

sometimes, i suppose, it depends on the questioner; sometimes it depends on the phrasing; and sometimes, yes, it's just the question. And those stupid questions just keep coming no matter where you are (not that i ever expected them to stop~and what kind of stories would i have to tell without them?)

So, right after i got to work yesterday, a woman came up to the desk to ask for help with her computer. She had a floppy disk in her hand and said her son had part of his school report on it and she was having trouble accessing it. My fellow librarian asked me to help her because i am somehow always the default computer expert seemingly no matter where i am, so i walked to the computer area with slight trepidation because the library's computers tend to be fussy with floppies. When we got to the computer her son was on she asked him if he had pulled the report up yet, which i found a little odd since she still had the disk in her hand. At that point i gently took the disk from her and said, "Okay. First, we need to put the disk into the computer, like this."

I inserted the disk.

The little light bulb went off above her head, "Ohhhhh."

"Then we pull up the file."

Problem solved. (And i was left to wonder how her son's report got on there in the first place.)

Sometimes i think the problem is me and my rather addled brain (She is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain ~Louisa May Alcott) perhaps my brain cells are occupied fighting this infection (or have already died in the effort?) but when a girl came up to the desk and asked for gorillas i had to repeat her query, and when i did she just confirmed that, indeed she was asking for the primates (which we don't house in my small, quiet library~they just wouldn't fit in.) Now it did dawn on me (rather slowly in my compromised state) that she wasn't asking for the animals but she was offering no media form, i had to inquire "Did you want Books on gorillas?"

"Yes" (why, yes of course, you dim-witted librarian)

Why does everyone seem to speak exclusively in nouns nowadays?

And why do they often seem compelled to ask "Oh, really???" when i tell them something perfectly reasonable like, "You may return your books over there in that slot that reads 'RETURN MATERIALS HERE'," as if i have the time and inclination to think up such a witty joke?

And is it just me, or is it incredibly forward to ask me for one of the two Hershey's kisses that is sitting by My computer at My desk when you are a perfect stranger who i am just happening to help with a reference question?

And why do people so often ask if i KNOW if we have any bathrooms as if i've never considered the question before?

And now comes the girl who put the music cd into one of our PCs (whose sound card has been disabled and Does not download songs) and claims that it listed all the songs on it then when she looked again all the songs were gone. When she brilliantly reinserted it the cd magically disappeared (not became stuck, mind you, because i checked and the drive was empty) but she was sure she put the cd in there. So this PC eats songs and cds but otherwise functions completely normally, cool huh?

By the by, in case anyone was wondering, i am love, love, loving my new job (well technically it's not so much a new job~just a different library~but it feels like a whole new job) It's a lovely, small, quiet library where i often work independently (which somehow feels differently than being abandoned at the reference desk, although it still adds up to being alone). Fortunately for me (however unfortunate for my tales) there also seems to be a slight absence of the raging hormonal teens so prevalent in my last library. When i voice opinions or library philosophies i am listened to and respected as if i have intelligence and experience (maybe that was missing before? maybe my first impressions are better than getting to know me~there's a scary thought) Anyway i'm happy, energized, and working very hard.
However it may be time to cut the hair, or tie it back into a stereotypical bun because after our collection management meeting the other day one of the library managers asked me how i was liking my new library and how it had surprised her to see my name on the list of those librarians to be transferred because i looked like i was fresh out of library school to which she added i looked as if i was twelve years old (was that supposed to be complimentary???). Then when our associate director stopped by the library she said she liked my pigtails, that it made me look "like a youngster" to which my manager added "she is a youngster" (which was supposed to be complimentary). But i like my braids, it makes my unruly hair so manageable!

I was removed from the pagan writers' webring because my content wasn't appropriate (funny how, now that i received that notice, their widget started appearing on my site~ironic in a non-Alanis way) it begs the question~how was the content inappropriate? They said you can be any kind of writer. Was it my failure to mention how i observed Imbolic (Candlemas, Groundhog Day) on February 2 (and i did observe it)? Is it my agnostic leanings? Obviously i'm not all-pagan, all the time~that's just not my life, but i do feel rejected and discriminated against~boo hoo. Oh well, i'm just curious as to what happened there (or maybe it's a stupid question?)

And in other news, the cats have been extra affectionate of late, most especially Miss Demetra. Do you think cats read blogs?