# Does anyone, ever, in real life....... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948 "2016-09-14T17:34:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/81 "2016-09-19T12:52:47Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Claims to be employed [here](http://www.utexas.edu/) when not reading palms. I don’t work at UT. Wrong university. Wrong city even. Believe it or not Texas has more than one university. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/82 "2016-09-19T12:57:41Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > When I was a freshman in college I worked in the mail room. My supervisor taught us to play computer solitaire and didn’t care what we did on the clock when it got slow as long as the mail was all sorted and anyone picking up a package was helped. I don’t particularly care what the student workers are doing when there is no work to be done. The problem occurs and my “dehumanizing” reaction occurs when there is tons of work to be done and they are playing games or studying. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/83 "2016-09-19T16:39:34Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > I don’t work at UT. Wrong university. Wrong city even. Believe it or not Texas has more than one university. [Desperately trying to save face, are we?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19447628#post19447628) Hint: the time to unequivocally say you don’t work there was then, not now. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/84 "2016-09-19T16:59:19Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Desperately trying to save face, are we?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19447628#post19447628) > > Hint: the time to unequivocally say you don’t work there was then, not now. I avoid giving out to much personal information on the net. The fact that I am an librarian in Texas is all I reveal in general to strangers. I don’t spend 24/7 on the Dope, therefore, I don’t have time to comment on every single remark that pops up. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/85 "2016-09-19T17:35:23Z")
[LOL](http://i.imdb.com/Photos/CMSIcons/emoticons/basic2/laugh.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/86 "2016-09-19T18:00:25Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Desperately trying to save face, are we?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19447628#post19447628) > > Hint: the time to unequivocally say you don’t work there was then, not now. Take any personal issues or beefs you have with another poster to the Pit and out of this thread, please. It’s not the place for it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/87 "2016-09-19T18:05:50Z")
No worries, I’m done. And permanently, WRT **ZPG**. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/88 "2016-09-19T19:56:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > I threw a hat once…and it wasn’t because I didn’t like the hat. Like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXZL2fmptkU)? That is pretty hard core. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/89 "2016-09-19T21:38:13Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I have never in my entire life seen a person throw something in anger. I’m sure that there are people out there somewhere who do this sort of thing, but in my personal experience, it just doesn’t exist. I’ve always thought it was weird to see this kind of thing on T.V., but just assumed that I lead a more sheltered life – or hang around nicer people. I once threw a rubber ball in anger. I was in college. It hit a mug I was fond of, which dropped to the ground and shattered. I haven’t thrown anything in anger since then. > [@PatrickLondon](#): > > … sweep everything off any available surface any time they get angry? > > I’ve just seen (yes, in a gormless TV soap opera) yet another such scene of a jilted lover trashing his workplace. But where did the idea come from - or am I just being British and expecting a tut and a cup of tea to work it all out? When my brother was a kid he would pick up the board game “Risk” and toss it off the table if the game wasn’t going well. There’s no way to recover the game after that. ---
**Author:** ![Anxious\_Squirrel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anxious_squirrel/32/1083_2.png) [@Anxious\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anxious_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/90 "2016-09-20T01:40:11Z")
One time I threw a book across the room so hard that it smacked into the wall. It was a really, really awful book! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/91 "2016-09-20T03:16:45Z")
> [@TheMysteryWriter](#): > > One time I threw a book across the room so hard that it smacked into the wall. It was a really, really awful book! I did that, for some famous SF book about a alien society. The author kept introducing new alien words into the book, the meaning of which had to be puzzled out by context. With a liberal use of totally unnecessary apostrophes. No dictionary, no footnotes, nothing. By about page 20 it made less sense that Jabberwocky- without Humpty Dumpty to explain. It _might_ have been The Faded Sun: Kesrith. It was simply unreadable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/92 "2016-09-20T04:39:09Z")
I sawed a book in half once… Mailed half to the publisher and half to the author. I duct-taped a book closed once, so it could not (easily) be opened or read ever again. I’ve also hollowed out several books to hide keys inside. As you might expect, I choose books I don’t respect very much for this purpose. Only once have I ever burned a book, and that was at a “blasphemy” party. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/93 "2016-09-20T13:08:20Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I sawed a book in half once… Mailed half to the publisher and half to the author. > > I duct-taped a book closed once, so it could not (easily) be opened or read ever again. > > I’ve also hollowed out several books to hide keys inside. As you might expect, I choose books I don’t respect very much for this purpose. > > Only once have I ever burned a book, and that was at a “blasphemy” party. Periodically, the library will receive donations of the most odious kind (Holocaust denial, “intelligent design”, Scientology, etc.). Very horrible things often happen to these books. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/94 "2016-09-20T16:58:42Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Periodically, the library will receive donations of the most odious kind (Holocaust denial, “intelligent design”, Scientology, etc.). Very horrible things often happen to these books. Really? Is there a list of unapproved books or book types, or are employees just allowed to make their own decisions? ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/95 "2016-09-20T17:28:36Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Really? Is there a list of unapproved books or book types, or are employees just allowed to make their own decisions? Librarians make the decisions based on the content needs of various subject areas. Sometimes copies of the stupid stuff is kept for the purpose of research. For example, we have copies of Holocaust denial books (cataloged as such, not as actual history books) for the purpose of research about anti-Semitism, historical denial, propaganda, etc. However, it is not necessary to waste valuable library space and time with multiple copies of that garbage. The same is true of “intelligent design”. If someone wants an example to compare against an actual biology textbook, we can provide that, but we don’t treat a donated “intelligent design” textbook as an actual science textbook or make any efforts to accumulate copies. Ditto for a lot of religious texts (Scientology sends boxes of their junk periodically). We will keep some of it for reference in case someone wants to look up quotes or doctrines from original sources, but if it has little academic value it’s going to be recycled, trashed, or used in creative ways that render it unreadable. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/96 "2016-09-20T18:21:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I did that, for some famous SF book about a alien society. The author kept introducing new alien words into the book, the meaning of which had to be puzzled out by context. With a liberal use of totally unnecessary apostrophes. No dictionary, no footnotes, nothing. By about page 20 it made less sense that Jabberwocky- without Humpty Dumpty to explain. > > It _might_ have been The Faded Sun: Kesrith. > It was simply unreadable to me. That’s why I gave up trying to read “Watership Down” after a couple of chapters. The movie was much better, and also understandable. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/97 "2016-09-20T18:28:50Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Periodically, the library will receive donations of the most odious kind (Holocaust denial, “intelligent design”, Scientology, etc.). Very horrible things often happen to these books. I volunteer at a library bookstore and we get controversial things occasionally. It’s our decision whether we want to put it out or not, or list it on our Amazon account. If we get any of the “Babywise” books, I put them into the recycle bin. Don’t know what anyone else does with them. Someone dropped some porno DVDs in the deposit box a while back :eek: and the head of the bookstore program, who is probably about 70 years old, left them out as a prank for someone in another group she’s involved with. 😛 She said that the cover left NOTHING to the imagination. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/98 "2016-09-20T18:33:47Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Librarians make the decisions based on the content needs of various subject areas. Sometimes copies of the stupid stuff is kept for the purpose of research. For example, we have copies of Holocaust denial books (cataloged as such, not as actual history books) for the purpose of research about anti-Semitism, historical denial, propaganda, etc. However, it is not necessary to waste valuable library space and time with multiple copies of that garbage. The same is true of “intelligent design”. If someone wants an example to compare against an actual biology textbook, we can provide that, but we don’t treat a donated “intelligent design” textbook as an actual science textbook or make any efforts to accumulate copies. Ditto for a lot of religious texts (Scientology sends boxes of their junk periodically). We will keep some of it for reference in case someone wants to look up quotes or doctrines from original sources, but if it has little academic value it’s going to be recycled, trashed, or used in creative ways that render it unreadable. Whenever this happens, we usually send the extra copies on to a reseller (in our case, Better World Books) and they decide what to do with it. We also do that with all the extra copies of Danielle Steel books and “The Da Vinci Code”. The reseller does their thing and periodically sends us a cut of the proceeds. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/99 "2016-09-20T20:08:56Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Periodically, the library will receive donations of the most odious kind (Holocaust denial, “intelligent design”, Scientology, etc.). Very horrible things often happen to these books. Grin! My local (small town) library once got a copy – a library copy, registered in the system and everything – of The Anarchists’ Cookbook. The librarian was absolutely certain that someone was going to steal it. So…he stole it. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948/100 "2016-09-20T20:19:33Z")
I once threw a Grisham book into a cornfield at 70 mph (I think I’ve told this story here) because it annoyed me that much. I deliberately broke a vase I really liked (basically dramatically sweeping it off a desk) after I was sorely provoked. This is not my usual nature, but I married a 1/2 Sicilian and it rubs off. 😕 A few times in my life I have swiped at the kids’ attempt at cleaning (ha) and told them to have a do-over. Last week I chucked a spoon, with a glob of peanut butter on it, somewhere in my spouse’s vicinity, after a trying evening. You had to be there. Whoops. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-ever-in-real-life/765948.md?page=6)