A semi-regular elderly patron came up to me at the desk last week and asked if I could help him on the internet computers. I told him that I would be glad to help him out again. When we got to a computer he pulled out a letter mailed from his bank and he had written instructions on the outside of the envelope. He wanted to print up his last year's credit card statement but he never set up an online account.
He told me that he would try it himself but he had eye surgery and could not see the screen. So long story short, he had to call his credit card and verify who he was and they set up a temporary password for his first log in and account creation. I helped him set up his account, including all of the security questions and man, does Bank of America require a lot of security measurements. When it came to setting up a password, he looked at me for suggestions. It's nice to see that people trust librarians, not that there shouldn't be any reason NOT to. It's not like there's a secret black market ring run by public librarians who steal trusting patrons'... right??
After it was all said and done, he tried to sneak me a $5 bill at the info desk on his way out. I had to decline it numerous times, telling him that it was no problem, that I was doing my job, that's what we're here for...etc. He then asked if he could walk over to McDonald's and buy me lunch, it was one of the nice patron interactions that makes you shrug off the really bad ones.
It isn't all doom and gloom as I make it out to be, but I would still advise against people pursuing an MLIS.
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