So there I was sitting behind the counter, minding my own business, when a patron approached. She slapped a piece of paper on the counter and said:
“Here’s my Social Security number. I need you to run my credit report. Now. I’m in a hurry.”
I said, “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
She snapped, “Excuse me?”
“I can’t run a credit report, because–”
“And why not?”
“Because,” I answered, “this is the public library. The periodicals department. You need to contact a bank or financial institution to get your credit report.”
“Are you saying you won’t help me?”
“No, ma’am; I’m saying I can’t run a credit report, that’s all. This is a library. Would you like to use one of our Internet computers to–?”
“I TOLD you I’m in a HURRY! What’s the mater with you? Why won’t you JUST RUN MY CREDIT REPORT? WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET SOMEONE TO HELP ME?!!!”
Etc., etc. Words cannot describe the scene that ensued, over which we now draw a veil.
Yes, please, random person behind the desk of a public institution…here’s my SSN…run my credit report here, make copies of it and post them for everyone in the library to see!:dubious:
Of course, my thoughts wander to what brought this person to that point. Is there any agency that really needs your credit report that can’t run it themselves after you give them the info? So why would you need one on yourself RIGHT NOW? I run one on myself every year (for free) to make sure no erroneous info has shown up…it’s also a great way to close out those accounts that you forgot about. But I’ve NEVER needed one RIGHT NOW!
Am I missing something? Is there some need to carry around an up to date credit report?
“These men are threatening to rob me, but only if I meet their credit standards! I need a report on myself, FAST!”
Hmm . . . perhaps I should have said, “Your credit report? Certainly, ma’am. Now, I’m going to need all your credit-card numbers to do this properly . . .”
“Also, just to make sure all your credit cards are valid, we’ll need to make a couple of transactions on each one.”
Well, if I can’t get a credit report at the periodicals desk of the public library, how bout you process my new home loan? And, I’d like to open up a checking account. Oh, and I need milk and bread, where are they?
Thanks SnugTheJoiner! Now I see how useful the local library really can be.
This just happened last week in my library. A woman came in and was, of course, in an incredible rush. Apparently she’s being audited and has to get copies of her returns for the past few years. Well, she has a floppy disk–from the looks of it, a very old floppy disk. She didn’t make any hard copies of the return from 2001, didn’t prepare it herself (her sister-in-law, who’s a cashire at Brooks, did it for them), doesn’t know what program was used to create the form or even if it was filed online, and can’t open anything from the disk. I played with it but couldn’t get it to open in anything we had on our machines. Don’t know what happened to her but boy, was she pissed when she left!
A few months ago someone ran up to the desk and insisted they needed to use the phone right away. They’d just been informed that they won $10,000 and if they called this 1-800 number right now they could collect it. :rolleyes:
I was at the library just this Sunday, in line behind a woman who needed to use the Internet to pay her electric bill TODAY. She didn’t know how to use the computer, and didn’t have a password for her electric account with her, and was really upset that the librarian wouldn’t leave the line of patrons waiting to walk her over to a computer and do it for her.
Suddenly I understood why the librarians at that branch are sometimes cranky.
