Patrons that make you say, 'Awwww....'

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.

Parenting at your local library.

I had a mom come up to me at the info desk asking if there's "someone in charge of the library."  Whenever patrons ask me that, I always try to think of what they want to complain about before they actually tell me and how far up the organization chart I have to refer them to.

She then went on to say that she wanted to complain about a librarian.  Did she want to complain about me in front of me!?  Maybe I said something wrong on the phone, I mean she literally (yes, I am using that word correctly) just walked into the library and headed straight to me.  I then thought about which of my info-coworkers and what they could have done to upset her.  The patron then pointed her head towards the circ desk towards the circ manager.  She then proceeded to air her grievance with me after I asked if she wanted to talk to the assistant branch manager.

"Everytime I come into the library with my daughters that librarian is always shushing them and telling them not to run.  My one daughter is 2 years old!  2 years old!!  What does she want me to do, make her wear a mask??  I want her to look forward to coming to the library and reading, how is that supposed to happen when she's constantly being told to be quiet and not to run??"

Really?  This is the first time I have noticed this mother and her 2 daughters in the library, and her daughter ran straight to the childrens section and was yelling until she hit the circ desk and the circ manager shushed her.  Not like the shushing did much, the little girl continued to run around and talk loudly.  I wanted to tell her that her daughter wouldn't be shushed and told not to run, IF SHE DIDN'T DO EITHER IN THE LIBRARY.  But I was not in the mood to be told that her daughter is just expressing herself and her feelings, and who are we to suppress them.

She definitely did not win me over and I just handed her the branch manager's business card.  I gave a head's up to the managers to expect an email from her.