Saturday, September 15, 2007

It's been a while...

It has been a long time since I posted anything of note on my blog. In fact, it has been a while since I have written anything other than academic papers. Today, on the bus, I was inspired to start writing again. Public transportation has a way of doing that.

Recently, I have been working as a reference librarian in a small, private library, just to test it out. I thought that going to library school to become a librarian or archivist would straighten everything out and I would then be on an actual career track. After three semesters, I have discovered that the library/archives field is a vast one with much variety. Needless to say, I still have a lot of thinking to do in regards of where I want to go and what I want do. So I am giving the reference thing a try. While my co-workers are wonderful, I am not so sure I enjoy interacting with the public more than is necessary. Maybe this makes me a curmudgeon - or even a stereotypical, reclusive librarian. Either way, the jury is still out on reference work, but the outlook does not look good.

A friend of mine, with whom I discussed this ambivalence about reference, suggested that working with the public is one way to have good stories to tell at parties. I wrote,"I think I would rather converse with my peers than with the public." "The public gives us the best "work" stories to tell!," she replied This possibly being her only argument in favor of working with the public. Well, today, I realized that my argument against doing reference and working with the public is that I rely on public transportation, so I have more than enough exposure just in getting where I need to go.

This afternoon I rode the bus to and from the downtown branch of the public library. On the way there, while desperately trying to focus on my homework, I listened to a young man expound upon the young, hot mamacita he had just hooked up with - in graphic detail. Now I am no prude, but I am not sure I wanted to know so much about other people's sexual preferences while riding the bus and reading The Tao of Computing. On the way home, a woman with a bloody knee and her man friend choose the seats right across from me. They proceed to have a rather long and loud conversation about buying a headstone for a deceased friend. The man talks about how wonderful the woman was, and how much he loved her - and then the conversation became too quiet to hear with any subtlety. I went back to reading The Tao of Computing, only to be interrupted by the man's boisterous pronouncement of his love affair with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior. In fact, in his mind, and I quote, "Jesus Christ is the THE BOMB." His passion was infectious, and I had to fight the temptation to shout, "Amen! Praise the Lord!" Luckily, his follow up statement brought me back to my senses. What was the follow up, you ask? A snot rocket. Not out the window or into a tissue, but onto the floor - about a foot away from my feet. At that moment, I realized that as long as I ride public transportation, I will not be looking for jobs that deal with that same public. Cynical? Perhaps. But who wants snot on their feet?

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