# Bitches who complain to employees about library policy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 2, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148 "2009-02-02T21:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/41 "2009-02-03T16:22:47Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > So the sum total result of my masters’ degree is “Hey, go fuck yourself, the bathroom’s in the corner under that pink wall”, right? 'Cause, just checking. Yup, that’s pretty much it. And that makes your degree more useful than most. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/42 "2009-02-03T16:31:22Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, you can’t bring your own food into the library, either! If it’s got what looks like an eating lounge, then why not? ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/43 "2009-02-04T02:58:44Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > 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. Our library has a big NO CELLPHONES sign, but I hardly ever carry a cell phone. For some reason I had one in my pocket the other day when I took my boys to the library. I think I had to go to the grocery store also that day and hadn’t had a chance to ask my wife if she needed anything, so I wanted to call her at work from the store. Anyhoo, my two sons (3 and 7) and I are walking out of the library when a nice older lady asks if we’d like to go see a harp recital being given in one of the public rooms. I hesitated a little, because my 3-year-old can get kind of testy when he has to sit still, but we had no place we needed to be, so I said, “Sure.” We sit down, the kids are behaving very well, and the gentle strains of harp music waft over us. One harpist was an older lady and one was a girl of about twelve who looked nervous to be performing in public. The room was almost totally absolutely silent…you could hear paper rustling at the library desk fifty yards away during breaks between songs. Well, you can guess the rest of the story. The harpists started a song that was subtler than cotton balls dropping onto a piece of felt and then MY FUCKIN’ PHONE STARTED RINGING AND I REACHED IN MY LEFT POCKET AND IT WASN’T THERE AND THEN I REACHED INTO MY RIGHT POCKET AND IT WASN’T THERE EITHER AND THEN I REACHED INTO THE INSIDE POCKET AND FOUND IT BUT THAT POCKET IS REALLY SMALL AND I WAS TRYING TO OPEN THE PHONE AND GET MY HAND OUT AT THE SAME TIME AND IT WOULDN’T FIT SO I HAD TO MAKE A RUN FOR IT AND EVERYONE IN THE ROOM STARED AS I SHOT OUT THE BACK DOOR !!1! The worst part was when I had to come back into the room to get my boys, who were still sitting there in silence. I’d have ritually disemboweled myself in front of the audience, but I had caused a big enough disturbance already, so we just left. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/44 "2009-02-04T03:21:11Z")
Wonderful post! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/45 "2009-02-04T04:12:58Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > A-fucking-men. > > 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. You’re going to lose this battle. Cell phones have pretty much become so ubiquitous that people don’t even remember that they have them until it rings. Back in the days when people wore digital watches, many of them had them set to beep on the hour. In testing situations, people had to be told specifically, multiple times, before the test, to silence their watches. A sign on the wall just isn’t going to do it. Either someone is going to have to stand at the door and orally instruct each person entering to silence his or her phone (or something like they do in movie theaters, with the little comedy sketch about silencing your phone), or everyone is just going to have to get used to the fact that everyone’s phone is going to ring once before they remember to silence them. Oh, and those “no typing/keyboarding in this area” study spaces? They’re going to go away too. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/46 "2009-02-04T04:22:23Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > :: all wide-eyed and innocent looking :: > > “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 like this idea. Sadly anyone who pays taxes feels they are entitled to free services worth 100 times more than the taxes they pay. Still, I think this is worth the effort just to see the look on their faces. Is anybody doing copies cheaper? Kinko’s? Staples? Office Max? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/47 "2009-02-04T04:35:27Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > Good rule of thumb about human nature: the less something costs, the more people will bitch about it. > > Seriously, when we’ve agreed to help out a client with some quick task at a minimal fee, it inevitably dragged out into an interminable mess because they’d reject everything we did and demand it done again and again and again and… When we charge up the nose and out the ass, they’re as happy as can be with everything we produce. > > Many people will judge your worth based on what you charge, so if you charge next to nothing, they will treat you and your work and opinions accordingly. Doing favors for them is rarely worthwhile. True. I’ve worked in retail a long time and too often going the extra mile for a customer isn’t worth it. When you voluntarily try to help in some area not really your responsibility it then magically becomes your responsibility and you’re stuck with the problem. Most often it’s better to smile and say “Sorry, that’s up to you” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/48 "2009-02-04T04:36:19Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Back in the days when people wore digital watches, … Back in the days when people wore _digital_ watches? Fuck, I give up, where’s that AARP application? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/49 "2009-02-04T04:47:17Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Back in the days when people wore _digital_ watches? Fuck, I give up, where’s that AARP application? Yeah. The trend is for not wearing a watch at all The holdovers are wearing analogue watches. There are only a handful of Dwight Shrutes who never got over digital watches. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/50 "2009-02-04T04:51:57Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > The holdovers are wearing analogue watches. That’s me. Of course, when Dick Tracy wristphones are the new technological trend, I’ll be back in style, unless anyone expects me to make a phone call or watch porn on it. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/51 "2009-02-04T08:02:04Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > That’s me. Of course, when Dick Tracy wristphones are the new technological trend, I’ll be back in style, unless anyone expects me to make a phone call or watch porn on it. I can’t watch porn on a wristwatch. The image won’t stay still. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/52 "2009-02-04T11:24:21Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I’m inclined to believe that a major part of the problem is that the way they’ve got things configured, your cafe looks like it’s a part of the library. Actually, our cafe is not really configured like that. One walks down a hallway. On the left are doors for various meeting rooms, and on the right is the gift shop and used bookstore, and bathrooms. All the way at the end, on the right, are the doors to the cafe. And there’s a sign that says “No outside food allowed” It’s just that some folks have such a big sense of entitlement they figure they can doo whatever they want, and if they’re pushy enough we’ll give in. Like the woman who took us to task because we wouldn’t use our microwave to warm up the burrito her kid had brought in. “This library has _too many rules_!” she huffed. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/53 "2009-02-04T11:42:45Z")
Here’s the \*anti-pitting \*to this thread: The coolest man in the frickin’ universe, AKA Pilot Sully, [contacted](http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11611495)his local library to let them know that he wouldn’t be able to return a book because it was in the cargo hold of flight 1549. Topic of book: Professional ethics. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/54 "2009-02-04T11:52:50Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I will ignore your “what?” > > State law as interpreted by the Wisconsin courts allows any level of government from the state level down to the sanitary district to charge $.25 per copy. They have determined that to be reasonable. Never mind that it may have been when the court decision was made, years ago, and that costs have declined since, but that’s the fallback policy if anyone asks. > > It’s bullshit, of course, but it’s government bullshit. That makes it right. I’d like to know how much the cost was to pay the Wisconsin courts to reach such a vital decision. I’m willing to bet the cost of paying the judges, attorneys. court personnel, etc. was more than Wisconsin made back in .10 or .25 a copy. This being America, I assume a lawsuit lead to this vital piece of legislature. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/55 "2009-02-05T16:05:02Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > I can’t watch porn on a wristwatch. The image won’t stay still. You win the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/56 "2009-02-05T16:17:17Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > “This library has _too many rules_!” she huffed. So, she thinks the cafe is part of the library, then. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/57 "2009-02-05T17:09:04Z")
I’ve known I was a holdover for a long time, still clinging to my lovely analog watch. I didn’t realize I was that much of a holdover that digital watches are now considered “the olden days”. I’m only 33. Though I do see a lot more white hair around my temples these days… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/58 "2009-02-05T17:12:16Z")
I think widespread wearing of digital watches was a passing fad, not a full-fledged step in the arc from no watch --\> pocket watch --\> wrist watch --\> no watch. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/59 "2009-02-05T17:24:06Z")
…You know, **ascenray** , I have noticed that you have been _deathly serious_ lately. Has your normal sense of humor gone south with the geese? I haven’t heard a joke out of you at all! Slightly off-topic, hope that’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148/60 "2009-02-05T17:27:17Z")
It’s probably sleep deprivation affecting my brain. And worrying about the economy. I’ve been laughing at _Reno 911_. That’s my level of humor right now. I don’t think I’m up for anything more subtle than the Three Stooges. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitches-who-complain-to-employees-about-library-policy/484148.md?page=4)