Please go fuck yourself. Who the fuck asks “Why y’all charge 20 cents for a copy?” and not have it be a rhetorical question? Who the fuck KEEPS asking until I supply an answer? “It isn’t a free service for us to provide” is the best I could do, and then I get this snide “Do y’all get PAID out of that money?” I said “It keeps the lights on and the free computers running.” What the hell else am I supposed to say? Did I set the price?
Did I force you to print something? Did you or did you not, on your visit today, have free access to millions of books, thousands of CDs and DVDs, oh, and hours of free computer use? And you still get pissy about twenty fucking cents. If we didn’t charge you to print you’d print the whole fucking internet and you know it, because you, the public, are selfish fucking assholes. It’s the tragedy of the fucking commons - if I don’t ask you to pay for something you’ll treat it even shittier than you already do, you fucking cunt and your fucking cunt friend.
My personal favorite was the spoiled princess who informed me she shouldn’t have to pay any fines on a book that was four months overdue because everybody knows publishers give books to libraries for free.
Well, maybe entitlement and stupidity.
We sure don’t get free ink, toner or paper, contrary to the wishes of those who feel required to print every screen they look at on the computer. Our last ranter on the issue only wanted a 100+ page print job–for free, of course.
“Well, gee…I think you’re the first person in all the time I’ve worked here who ever complained about it. (Makes 'em feel like a singular dolt. ;)) We have to pay for toner and paper and someone to come fix it when it stops working, etc. Most of our customers seem happy that we even have one available.”
I feel your pain. My mom was a Circ Mgr in a library (suburb of Dallas) and endured the crazy for so many years. She has a lot of stories. Hey, look on the bright side; you’ll be able to tell your grandkids funny stories about the weirdoes you had to deal with when you were a librarian.
I can’t answer for the OP, but fines in our area top out at the replacement cost of the book. That includes the admin cost of re-entering the new on into the system.
Well, burning into into the wood of a Louisville-Slugger in Times New Roman 14 and embossing it onto their foreheads one at a time might be frowned upon in her town.
That said, “Play Ball…!”
May I add something? If you walk into the library you will walk past at least one sign saying PLEASE SILENCE YOUR CELL PHONE. This is true at my library and I suspect it’s true at just about every library in the world. Do you know what that sign means? It means “put your fucking cell phone on silent you fucking dolt!”
If you don’t, and it rings, and a library employee hears it, they will be fantasizing about doing terrible things to you.
What I want to know is this: Who builds a brand new library in 2008 and does not put in any frickin power outlets? There are these things called “laptop computers,” often used by people who are in school. These same people also tend to frequent libraries. I can maybe see not putting out for wireless internet (maybe), but no outlets? Even Starbucks has those!
I dunno, I was in the library in the weekend, and there was a guy there nonchalantly reading a nerfcore wank mag - FHM or somesuch - while his baby daughter was on the floor licking a power socket. I’ll type that again, shall I? He was gawping at a tit mag while his kid was licking a fucking power socket not two feet away. Admittedly the socket had a child safety cover, but I nearly shat a lung.
I work as a baker in a cafe located in our public library. We are NOT a library department, but a seperate business.
However, some folks still can’t get it through their pointy heads that we’re not a library lounge and they can’t bring their own food in here. It’s like taking your own bottle into a bar. Just last Saturday this one dude brings in a big meal, has it all over the table, comes up to our counter to get a handful of mustard and ketchup packets. When told they’re not free, and he can’t eat in here anyway, he got all belligerent, saying he could do whatever he wanted in the library. He was told he wasn’t in the library and then he got even worse, telling us we were treating him bad because we were prejudiced. Well, we are prejudiced against thieves!
I talk to the librarians and the stories THEY tell. Near closing there are announcements twice, and still folks are surprised they have to get off of the computer and leave. “I just need a few more minutes! This computer cut me off!” Yep, it sure did, it’s programmed to quit at 9:00PM, because of idiots like you!
Then there’s the packs of kids that are dropped off by their folks, because the library is “safe”. It isn’t, not any more than any other public gathering place. And librarians are not babysitters.
Or folks that don’t understand how to look things up and expect the librarians to do it all for them, while they sit back and wait.
