"duct tape that kids mouth!"

[depechemodefan]

This is what I typed on the incident report. Mostly I was covering my ass.

Around 2:20 pm 11/15/09 I heard a baby gurgling on the third floor. It was a noticeable noise but I didn’t think it was disturbing. One of our regular customers (he’s a bit heavy, usually wears a baseball cap, and is caucasian) was passing by the reference librarians at our stations. He did not stop to talk to us but his comment was directed to us. He said, “Is there any duct tape? Someone needs to cover that kid’s mouth.” I told him he is free to go to another area but he said his computer is right there and the other person had a laptop. I ask S K, the other librarian with me, if she thinks it was loud and she said it was borderline.



About 10 min. latter I hear the child crying so I went to the father to tell him he can take his child up to the Kids room. He said that his child was cranky and wanted her mother. I said in the Kids room he can do his work. I then told him people already complained about the child and he said people should get used to children crying, that is what they do. I would have gotten the LIC but normally parents are agreable about going to the Kids room with their kids.



I finally convinced him to go the Kids room (or at least leave the floor). He was disgruntled but I think I handled it fine.



The other patron I thought was really rude. He was being passive aggressive and who says things like “duct taping) a kids mouth?



Note:
I told yesterday's supervisor what happened. Today she told me the guy (with
the baby) asked the Kids' librarians to watch his daughter!!!! Then his computer battery died, hee.

[Sliceanddice]

why did the complaintants race matter?

yeah they where both sucky though

[depechemodefan]

why did the complaintants race matter?

I was discribing him so my manager will know who was the complainer. I don't have his name, and I didn't want to give the nick name of the guy (we call him "Charlie Brown"). This report was also going to security. Not that I care, but once I fill out a form it goes to security anyway.

I copied this straight from the incident report, so it's aimed toward managers then for here.

[Sliceanddice]

ahh ok then

[NateTheChops]

He was being passive aggressive and who says things like “duct taping) a kids mouth? .

My parents for starters.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

My parents for starters.

My mom threatens that with older children who are old enough to know better, but just don't do better.

[LillFilly]

Whenever my boyfriend and I hear an obnoxious screaming child who's parents are not paying attention to them we say to each-other, as we walk-by...

BF: Children should be leashed...
Me: And muzzled...
Both: At all times.

Really, these kids are everywhere and it's like the parents are immune to the noise. I do not want to hear this in a movie theater. In the book store. In a restaurant. Or when I'm trying to shop. And I don't mean a little crying, I mean the obvious the kid's tired/hungry/hurt/ crying!

If he had directed the duct tape comment at the father, the father might have quieted the kid down sooner.

[Amina516]

Note:
I told yesterday's supervisor what happened. Today she told me the guy (with
the baby) asked the Kids' librarians to watch his daughter!!!! Then his computer battery died, hee.

That cant have been the first time can it? I can see people trying to use you guys like youre the daycare. Or just dropping them off and hightailing it outta there.

I used to spend HOURS in my public library on certain days, but that was b/c my mom worked there and I was old enough to handle being alone. I also had access to the break room and their awesome snack machine.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

If he had directed the duct tape comment at the father, the father might have quieted the kid down sooner.

Actually, if he's directed a polite request for quiet, the father might have quieted the kid down sooner.

I'm thinking making a suggestion as rude and nasty as what he actually said would get him told to fuck off.

[depechemodefan]

The guy we call Charlie Brown is an asshole anyway. Anything that comes out of his mouth is vile. We hate him. So I had no sympathy for him.

His past transgresions:

He figured a way to keep the computer timers from logging himself off. Another time, he would log on as other people* and log off. He uses the job computers to look for jobs and to look at myspace. He says he is looking for jobs on myspace, though there's chat going on and the person he is chatting with is a guy in a bikini. It could be a prospective HR person....NOT!

So if someone else came up to us (CB directed the comment to us, the father wasn't close to us) and made a joke about ductaping a kid's mouth, depending on our mood, we might laugh or think it's a bad joke.

*you go to a reservation station to be assigned to a computer. You will be placed on a waiting list if all the computers are being used. When it is your turn, the reservation computer will show which computer is yours. You log in on the computer by typing in your password. CB will go to the computer and guess at the password-most people use the last 4 digits of their library cards because people forget their passwords, so the librarians tell them to use the last 4 digits of their cards. He logs in on someone else's computer, then logs out. So that person loses his computer and CB's place in line moves up.

Oh, and the looks he gives us librarians is really creepy.

[reimero]

At the library where I used to work, behavior like that was grounds for revocation of internet privileges. Usually, a one-month ban was enough, but some got themselves perma-banned.

[mischugenah]

Whenever my boyfriend and I hear an obnoxious screaming child who's parents are not paying attention to them...

They're trying to do that "new parenting" thing where you teach your kid that throwing tantrums is useless by simply ignoring them (kid wastes a lot of energy and still doesn't get the attention/toy/candy they wanted). I can see the point, but there are a couple things wrong with it: 1) it ignores the fact that public spaces are shared by more than just the parent and kid, and 2) it turns the tantrum into a competition between parent and child, when the parent should be unquestionably in control.
My mom's solution, on the other hand, was to haul us up by one arm and smack us on the bottom. Same result, much shorter screaming time

[jackfaire]

My mom's solution, on the other hand, was to haul us up by one arm and smack us on the bottom. Same result, much shorter screaming time

Mine very similar. However when my daughter then whined, "Your embarrasing me" I told her, "Your embarrasing yourself" She got real quiet after that and stopped being a brat.