Do you not see the line behind you?!

[Marxfan]

We have been criminally short-staffed lately at the library. Summer is busier than ever before, as we have parents pimping out their kids' free time to mooch off free stuff... I mean, signing them up for summer reading programs so the little ones can get fun prizes!

Anyway, it's just me and a co-worker. Two people at the desk ain't gonna cut it, but never mind. There is a DMV-worthy line and we're trying to keep it quick. I get this patron (lucky me) who picks up 21 holds for two members of his family! Okay, annoying, but that's not the sucky part. No, the guy, whose 17th language happens to be English, doesn't want all of the holds! Oh, no, dear readers, he said he didn't want all of them, and he wants me to help him pick out the precious eight that his daughter wants! She had made a list, but because his English was so shitty, he made it sound like his daughter made a list of what she didn't want!

Me (deciding to drop a not-so-subtle hint): Well, I better do this quickly, there's a line.
CS: Oh, I can step aside and sort through them.
Me: Oh, could you? That'd be great.
Well-meaning co-worker: Oh, that's all right, marxfan, help him out.
Me: But look at the line!
WMCW: Well, we're only two people and we can only do one thing at a time!

She's the circulation lead, so I decide to do as I'm told. Mr. Shitty English points out my mistake, as I've been setting the books his daughter wants. So, barely being civil at this point and frantically going as fast as possible, I read off his daughter's list (her handwriting was worse than mine, so that was a plus), and he's, of course, barely helping out, I finally get the 8 out 21 holds that his fucking daughter wants, and I do I even need to mention that he didn't thank me for my trouble?

Later, my WMCW heard the whole story from me and apologized, saying she only said what I said to keep me from having a nervous breakdown, as I seemed poised to strangle the guy at any second.

I know what you're all thinking, and I totally agree: I'm a coward and a pushover. I hate that about myself. But then, that guy is a complete and utter narcissist, not even noticing the line behind and not even thinking that he was being totally unreasonable and selfish.

[Marxfan]

He really wanted me to pick through his holds. He couldn't just take them all home and bring some back later. He was rude and inconsiderate in any language. He was able to explain his daughter only wanted 8 of the 21 holds. I asked him he wanted the rest of the 13 holds, and he said no.

So I deleted them.

[Magpie]

The fact that his daughter is willing to abuse the hold system like that suggests that this is a two-generation suck at least.

[Aisling]

I'm still boggling at the fact your library allows that many holds at once.

I hope your CW has learned to not undermine you in front of patrons anymore.

[bainsidhe]

At our library you have to pay for holds. Only 50 cents each, but still. Does your library charge something at least?

[OfficeSlug]

At our library you have to pay for holds. Only 50 cents each, but still. Does your library charge something at least?

That is AWESOME... would definitely keep down the reserve-and-ever-pick-'em-up crowd!!

[PepperElf]

mine doesn't charge but my system where my sister lives has a 25¢ fee per hold or transfer request.


though to be honest i think my system has better books (mom and sis agree)

[flutes_and_fabric]

when I saw the words library and line at the beginning of the post I was like, "Oh no, I hope this isn't about me!" But I quickly learned it wasn't, so phew. I was at the library recently and there was no one in line and two people behind the desk. Me and the clerk get into an awesome conversation when I hear someone tapping their foot behind me. I turn around and there's suddenly the line from hell and this woman is giving me a nasty look. BUT, and this is a big but, they were standing in the line labeled "self checkout" and the three self checkout stations were all open. It was very clearly labeled. I just think it's funny that people failed to read the signs at a library. Anyway, the clerk said (purposefully loudly) that he wasn't going to call anyone from self checkout because he self checkout line was for people who wanted to check themselves out. There was a huge line shift after that, so I left but the conversation was continued later at the cafe. And if you wanna know, it was about video games. I know, I'm a dork.