Inappropriate museum/library behavior

The BBQ Pit
1

I volunteer on Sundays in the library room of a local museum. The library is located inside the galleries, and, due to the nature of wood floors and gallery walls, I can hear almost everything that goes on in the galleries on a quiet day. I’ve been volunteering there since August, and, well, there are things that people do here that I didn’t encounter at all in my last position at a museum. (I was an intern.)

[ol]
[li]Chewing gum: Why, oh, why do you think it’s okay to chew gum in a museum? If it weren’t for stories like this and my academic training in museum studies, I probably wouldn’t rail so hard against people chewing gum in museums. Even if the gum doesn’t leave the person’s mouth, it still poses a risk to the objects in the museum simply by having the gum being chewed. Personally, I think that gum counts under the “no food or drink” rule that is imposed in most museums I’ve heard of. Why does chewing gum bother me so much? Because kids get tired of chewing the gum, and on the rare occasion the kids don’t try to stick it to something, I get handed the gum to dispose of from the parent when there’s a garbage can out in the lobby. (It’s less than 100 yards away and is easy to find, and I won’t have to touch your spit-ups.) [/li][li]cell phones: People seem to think that it’s appropriate to chat on their cell phones in the library area. They think it’s an even better idea to do it in the big, echoing gallery areas. It’s a problem because people chatting loudly on their phones are a nuisance for the rest of the visitors, especially the ones who would like a quiet room to contemplate the pieces that they are viewing or to concentrate on the book they are reading. (It’s a research library, so we can’t lend out books to visitors.) What’s really “great,” though, is when people either get offended or try to run away from me when I ask them to not use their cell phones in the gallery. I’ve called security on them before, and I’m not afraid to do it. Just because my badge says “volunteer” doesn’t mean that I can’t tell you to not be an obnoxious ass to everyone around you. [/li][li]loud, unruly children (with no parents in sight): I am understanding if your kid gets bored or tired at the museum. I can understand if they start to get a little rambunctious. What I don’t understand is why you think it’s appropriate to let them run amok when there are objects in this museum that are more valuable than everything you own that they could possibly damage. What irritates me even more is if I have to discipline your child for you, and I don’t even know where you are. Although this is a museum and is deemed a “safe” place, it’s no excuse to let your kid go running off. People who’ll steal your kids from you like art and culture too. Lastly, I know you like cultured outings, but when your toddler or young child gets tired/bored and asks you to do something different/go home, please do not just ignore them while you drag them through to look at something for the third time. They’re eventually going to have a tantrum, and while that may not affect you, it ruins the experience of the museum goers around you. Please, just be considerate of others and be careful about your kids in addition to your own behavior.[/li][li]equally loud elderly people: Okay, I know that some of you don’t hear so well. That’s fine. When you’re in the library, though, you need to keep your voices down because people actually come here to read the books. Yes, I know you’re a volunteer that is showing off the museum to her friends. This doesn’t make your time any less important than the people who want to read up about Japanese culture/art/business/language in peace. Also, please do not give me dirty looks because I’m young and volunteering and asking you to follow the museum’s rules and a general unspoken etiquette guide. (I’ve always understood that museums are like libraries, so one should keep their voices below a dull roar so as to not disturb others’ learning.) [/li][/ol]

In closing, the museum and library within are not a shopping mall, nor are they an area where it’s appropriate to be loud, run around, and disturb others in general. And stop trying to take pictures in the galleries, damnit! You’re contributing to the slow destruction of objects that are really, really, really old!

2

I agree with the annoying behavior in general, but I don’t get this one:

I can see why people sticking their gum everywhere is annoying, but if I have a piece of gum in my mouth and it stays there how is that hurting anything in the museum?

3

My interpretation of the “no food or drink” rule would interpret it so that you’re still breaking a rule. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t eating a sandwich that you have in your bag; you’re still not allowed to bring it into the museum. Half of the people who chew gum in the museum that I’ve noticed weren’t chewing gum before they entered the museum. Even if there’s one or two people who behave well about it, the majority of the people doing it will do things like leave the wrapper behind, smack their gum, or touch the chewed gum with their hands and then touch other things in the museum. The main reason why food and drink aren’t allowed in a museum is because of the risk of pest infestation that having food traveling through a gallery poses. Besides, there’s a huge garden you can walk through if you have a craving for chewing gum all of a sudden. It’s a better solution than walking through the galleries with gum in your mouth.

4

I have a hard time believing that people actually hand you chewed wads of gum fresh from their children’s mouths. And either way - why don’t you just tell them where the garbage bin is located?

5

bolding added. If that’s the main problem, what’s the issue wrt ‘smacking’ their gum, other than it obviously annoys the shit out of you? Is this one of those reverential type museums where one is supposed to walk softly so as to not offend the sensabilities of others w/loud walking?
I’m w/you on the cell phone thing, but you also loose me on this:

so on the one hand you seem to recognize that folks when they age often loose some amount of hearing. But they’re not supposed to speak loudly enough to be heard by their companions because… why? Whispers often cannot be heard by some one (of any age) w/a hearing disability.

In any event - did you get any training from your supervisors? do they really want you to be ‘shushing’ the older folks and enforcing “gum = food”? If so, more power to you and them I suppose, but it sorta sounds like these are things that bug the shit out of you, vs. really being a problem at your museum.

6

Sorry, I don’t get it either. You have no idea what people might have touched before they even walked into the museum, so unless you make everyone wash their hands upon entering, I don’t see how the “no gum” rule is protecting anything.

And I can’t imagine a person who is stupid enough to stick gum on a painting wouldn’t also be stupid enough to rip a painting with his fingernail, or draw on it with a pen, or spit on it, or whatever. You really need a rule against stupid kids, not against gum.

I don’t consider gum as food.

7

Good! Can I join this rant? I’m at the LAMCA and I hear a baby wailing with the odd precision of a metronome.

WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause, WHAAAHH, pause. . .
<continue ad infinitum>

Ha, I’ve fallen trap to one of those humorous installations designed to fake out a museum goer and raise their hackles a bit, right? I turn the corner and . . .

No, it’s a retard parent strolling ever so slowly through the galleries with a wailing baby. For crying out loud (literally), take the GOD DAMN baby outside. I had to switch floors to escape this moron and spawn.

At the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, I 'm wandering through the modern art section and there is some woman explaining each piece of art to her child in a loud conversational tone. Yes, I understand the desire to expose one’s child to the arts. But do you really think your 6 month old non-verbal baby is REALLY TAKING THIS ALL IN? Not only that, your interpretation of the pieces is all wrong. JEEZ!

8

Well, I guess that makes sense. But my chaw is still okay, right?

9

I think that I’d put these points in the following order, from most annoying to least annoying: 3, 2, 4, 1. This might be because I’ve never encountered any real problems with chewing gum…I don’t chew it myself these days, and my daughter never chewed it very much, and when she DID have a stick, she knew enough to chew discreetly and dispose of wrapper and gum properly.

It seems that parents not supervising their children properly or at all is a problem in just about every public place. It was a problem at least 20 years ago and it’s a problem today. With the cell phones in use today, though, it seems that the problem is even worse. So many people treat a museum, library, toy store, or other public place as their own private drop off child care center. Some children have good public manners at a fairly young age, and can be allowed to explore a library or museum by themselves, but most of the unaccompanied children I see in these places do need some adult supervision. I know that at least one library around here has to go around and ask kids if they have an adult to pick them up, at about half an hour before they close, because so many parents just leave the kids at the library.

Lastly, I do not believe that it’s appropriate for kids to run around noisily in a shopping mall. It’s still an area where other people are trying to get things done.

10

Generally, when I enforce the “shushing of the older folks,” it’s because other patrons have complained about them being loud. After all, talking loudly enough to be considered shouting is inappropriate when it disturbs others.

As for the gum thing, I normally let it slide, but it bothers me intensely.

11

I find that, for every person that causes me to voice my complaints, there are at least two that I don’t notice because they’re behaving properly. The thing is, though, that there are a lot of people who are not abiding by general rules of conduct within these public spaces.

I’ll agree with you on the mall not being an appropriate place to run around or drop off kids for “babysitting.” I do, however, think that it’s okay to occasionally have a short chat on the phone if you’re shopping as long as no one is attempting to help you. (I’m also bothered by people who can’t stop talking on their phones long enough to pay the cashiers or ask for help for something.)

The gum thing is only a pet peeve of mine when people ask me to throw it away. Partly because of their reaction when I tell them where the nearest garbage can is, and partly because, well, I don’t want to be touching used gum or used tissues or anything else that’s been in contact with their bodily fluids. (It’s not like I can actually leave to go wash my hands immediately afterward.) Other than that, I don’t really care as long as they’re not being obnoxious about chewing it.

12

That’s fucking disgusting, dude. If I saw you doing that in a museum, I’d flick my lit cigarette butt at you.

13

As a fellow museum employee, I submit this thread which I wrote three years ago: Dammit, Don’t Touch Anything!.

What bothers me about gum is the spit-flecks. Many people apparenly believe the “chew with your mouth closed” rule doesn’t apply to gum. I sometimes have to clean the cases after one of these people has stood there for a moment.

14

And if I saw you doing that I’d fart on your head.

I believe one is still permitted to fart in a museum, is that not correct, OP?

15

Yes, as long as you call it “performance art.”

16

well, seems like I pegged the gum thing.

wrt ‘shushing other folks’ - I dunno - I understand that it can be disturbing. I work around a couple of people w/hearing disabilities and they tend to talk very loudly, especially when they’re on the phone. I wouldn’t think of demanding that they ‘shush’. ditto for elderly people w/ seeming hearing impediment. In a movie theater where silence is critical so others can hear the movie, yea, but in a museum where silence less critical. If they were having a long conversation in all shouts, I guess, but “Isn’t that beautiful?” “yes”, eh, not so much.
but you already lost points on the gum thing.

17

Seems like a good place to rant about that damn Wendy’s commercial I’ve seen about a million times during the NFL playoffs, where two guys are EATING in the library. One guy has little tiny portions, and whispers “$2.99” to the other guy, who has huge Wendy’s portions and whispers it right back. Sandwich, fries, and a soda all sitting on the table next to the empty Wendy’s bag.

I guess nobody involved with this commercial at any level has ever visited a library before.

18

I can’t remember if I posted to your thread, Lissa, and it’s too long to search.

I’ll post it again here: I was visiting The Getty art museum several years ago and gazed rapturously at Van Gogh’s Irises which was being displayed there. The guard near it was very vigilant and I complimented him on it. He said that not long before my visit a woman had scratched at Van Gogh’s “Irises” with her fingernail to see if the paint would flake off or not. The museum’s restoration people picked up each tiny flake of old paint and glued them back on the painting, and posted a guard whose sole duty was to keep fuckwits like her away from it.

I still can’t believe someone did something like this. So if museum people are wary of gum-chewers, I don’t blame them. I’m sure most chewers are respectful, but you never know who is a nutcase and is going to stick their gob on a priceless piece of art.

19

You did post that story in there and I never forgot it. (Thanks for compelling me to look t confirm, though, because there’s some funny stuff in that thread. Prying gum off of antique furniture is also mentioned.)

Over the past couple of years, I’ve become much better at averting such incidents before they even happen, but every now and then I have to whip out the Voice of Indignant Authority.

20

Speaking as a librarian:

Worse than all the above: Stealing library materials. Which is easy to do if the library has no electronic theft-detection system, and many don’t, yet.

But it can get worse. At the last library I worked at, there was an incident (before my time) where a guy smeared feces all over every wall in the men’s room. Very thoroughly. More of it than one man could carry in his colon – how he smuggled it in there remains a mystery.