Dumb as Spit

I put my foot in it at work again yesterday.  I just can't make myself smile and say, "Yes it is wonderful how busy we are here at the library."  I am so damned thankful I have a job, it doesn't matter how little they pay us and how hard we have to work so idiots like you can come in and tell me how lucky I am to be waiting on you.

Sorry, I got carried away again.

I am usually pretty guarded about my views with the customers at this point.  I know enough to make absolutely sure who I am talking to before I let anybody know what I actually think; doesn't matter how much our patrons appear to want to engage in dialogue, 99.9 percent really just want to hear their own opinions agreed to, with a smile.

But this time I got suckered in.  There I was, doing work during my desk time because there wasn't nobody there to do it in the work room, like we're supposed to do, in order, of course, to give good customer service while we're on the desk.  It was a huge cart full of books to be sent to the holds shelf, and the smiling woman commented on all those holds, and that must be all we do.  Wow, she understands how much work is involved to get these holds out to people.  So I agreed.  Then she threw down the gauntlet:  "It's a good thing that you're so busy."

Man, what a sucker.  Those are the words that signify, time to tuck yourself into your shell.  But I didn't.  Instead, I said something to the effect that of course we're busy, what we have here is free.

Yeah I know, there are lots of better ways I could have even said that, and usually I do, but everyone is allowed their moment of less-than-eloquence.  Unless you work with the public, and especially if it's a government job in 2011.

So this woman who pays $35 a year for the dozen or so items she is checking out proceeds to tell me that if we were not pleasant, people would not use the library.  Right.

Oops.

Even at that point I could have backtracked and said, "You're right, that's why we try so hard."  And I have done that, I am ashamed to say.  But I did not.

Instead I asked her if she had summer reading forms, and fake-pleasantly added a couple more fake-important pieces of information.

And I smiled.