Friday, March 26, 2010

Miss Information has the right to remain annoyed

It is a beautiful day. No one is being forced to come into the library. Nevertheless every patron is as cranky as if Miss Information were forcing them to conjugate Latin verbs at gunpoint. She isn't. Even the usually nice customers are sarcastic, which means that the ordinarily grumpy people are turned up to 11.

Simple concepts like whose turn it is to use the computer next are disintegrating into shouting matches. Miss Information hates days like this. On ordinary days she tries to be nice, which is hard enough. When people are pulling each other's hair out over the Internet, she has to be super nice. It is really hard.

It is always hard to deal with Mr. I'm-a-City-Councillor. He likes the library staff to jump through hoops for him and he's never particularly thrilled with their efforts. On "Everyone's Cranky Day", Mr. Councillor wants to use the Internet to watch basketball. He begins by complaining that Miss Information has booked him into the "slow computer" on purpose. His basketball game isn't loading and it's all her fault. He wants to change to the "fast computer" and he wants his full time back because Miss Information gave him the wrong terminal.

Miss Information caved just to get rid of him. It didn't work. Turns out the "fast computer" isn't fast enough. He wants to watch the basketball game, dammit. It's not loading. It's not fair. It's not right. He wants Miss Information to fix it.

Miss Information's knowledge of streaming live sports on the Internet is limited to Olympic women's curling. It was slow to load. She assumes that the more popular sports like NCAA championship basketball might have slightly higher demand. She's betting this is having a negative affect on bandwidth or something. Mr. Councillor isn't buying it. CBS promised he could watch the game free online and Miss Information is preventing him from doing so.

The library is in a part of the city with a large number of sport bars, pubs, and coffee shops with televisions. Ok, it's not free but for only a couple of dollars you can nurse a beer or a coffee and hang around for hours, make new friends, quit bugging Miss Information. It's a great option.

One day when she hears the words: I'm a city councillor, Miss Information promises she's going to respond by saying: Oh, so you're the reason the city is so messed up.

7 Comments:

At 3:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow - he sounds charming!

Strangely enough we had a 'Everyone is cranky day' today too. Staff bust ups, teenagers (what's new, right?), and grumpiness multiplied by ten!

I'm wondering why we open the library to the public? There should be an 'invite only' policy.

 
At 6:15 AM, Blogger Kate said...

As usual, Miss Information, you have made me smile! I like Soph's suggestion of invitation only libraries...what a wonderful concept!

 
At 8:39 AM, Blogger Peter Tobey said...

Congratulations. Your blog has been nominated for our Library Blog Awards. In fact, your blog was suggested more than once. We're in the process of assembling information about all those nominated and will be sending a short questionnaire, including the categories of awards and the judges involved. Would you please send me your email address so that I can send you the questionnaire? If your email is on your blog, I couldn't locate it.

Thanks in advance,
Peter W Tobey
ptobey@salempress.com

 
At 12:45 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Personally, I think I'd always put Mr. City Councellor on the slow computer. And then I'd explain about the library's technology budget when he complains, and explain how HE has the power to improve it!

 
At 3:49 PM, Anonymous dutifuldaughter said...

Dear Miss Information,

Why isn't Mr. I'm-a-City-Councillor at work? Doesn't he have a city to help run? Not to mention an office, where presumably he could watch his basketball game in peace behind closed doors?

Unless the City blocks such things. But Dutiful herself works for the City and her access to interesting sites, among them Miss Information's, is not blocked at present.

Not that she is writing this on work time or anything.

 
At 6:39 PM, Blogger kittenpie said...

You might suggest he get the city to kick a little more money in the library's direction so we can buy more bandwidth, or faster computers, or something.

 
At 7:06 PM, Blogger charlesm said...

You would think that being Mr.I'm-a-City-Councillor (sp?) would make enough money to buy his own damn "fast" computer. charlesm

 

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