I work as a Circulation Associate at the Main/downtown library in my city. Admittedly, I am actively seeking a Para position within my library system, but right now I am savoring the uniqueness of working the frontlines of the library. When patrons enter the building, my co-workers and I are the first or second group of people they see (the other prominent figures are the security guards). My department deals with a lot of people, and it often seems that many of these interactions arise out of frustrations and problems that the patrons have.
For a few months now, I’ve been making an extra-conscious effort to really be present when interacting with each patron that I am interacting with. Not that I did not do this before, but I wanted to take things to the next level. It’s easier some days than others. On a very basic level, one of the things that I try to do is to picture (with my mind’s eye) my heart opening to each person and to look into the eyes of the other, if even just for a moment.
But, again, sometimes it takes a lot of effort when your mind or heart is elsewhere. A couple of days ago, while my body was at work, my mind was on Maggie Gyllenhaal’s latest movie to be released on dvd, SherryBaby (which I had watched just before leaving for work that day). Even more, I was thinking about a family matter that had recently come up...one of those things that you can’t really do anything about, but which bothers you nonetheless.
With about 3 hours left of work, I had one gentleman approach me with the problem, which explanation lasted about five minutes. Bottom line: there was a movie on his library card which he claimed HAD been returned. Although this is an estimate, of the times when patrons claim to have returned movies that are still on their records, it seems that about 80% of the movies are not on the shelves and have seemed to have disappeared into thin air. In other words, I did not expect to find the movie on the shelf, and was a bit too tired to really put a lot of effort into this quest.
However, the movie was there all along! My spirits immediately lifted and as I exited the Audiovisual department to head back to my post at the Return Desk, I announced to a co-worker that my faith in man had been restored for the evening. He laughed at me and shook his head. As I walked away, I think I could feel him smile warmly at my optimism, though.
Moments later, a young girl who I recognized as a after-school regular saw me heading down the stairs and asked if worked at the library. I let her know that I did and asked her what I could do to help her out. Suddenly, she was close to crying as she explained to me that her grandmother had let her borrow her library card to use as a computer pass and to check out some books. Somehow, she had lost the card. I brought her down to the return desk with me and had her sit down for a moment. I knelt down beside her and quietly explained that I’d make a note in grandma’s record that the card was misplaced.
To take her mind off the situation a bit, I asked the girl to write her name down for me in her very best handwriting. I then let Shae (yes, a pseudonym) that I’d write in grandma’s record that Shae could still check out some books that evening. I made a computer pass up for her, and made sure she knew that I believed losing the card was an accident. I let her know that I’d be up in the same area that she was using the computers in shortly, and that we’d keep an eye out for the card for the rest of the evening.
Shae checked back with me a few more times to see if the card had been turned in. She still seemed very worried, as she thought that grandma would need to pay for a replacement card, although I let her know that it would be free. She told me she was scared of getting in trouble and wanted me to speak to her grandma. Suddenly, it occurred to her that maybe she lost the card down the elevator shaft. I suspected this was her grasping at straws to make up any story that sounded like a plausible accident, as I had done this same things many times when I was a child. The fear of getting a spanking or even just being yelled at for being irresponsible (yet again) was enough to make me become a master storyteller. I recognized this in Shae, but followed her to the elevator shaft to check out how we might retrieve grandma’s lost card.
I assured Shae once again that accidents happen, and joked with her that next time maybe she should wear pants with pockets. I stressed that I believed she had learned an important lesson. Still, she was close to crying again. I told her that I’d write her a note to give to grandma if she gave me a few minutes to do so. I knew the note would probably do more for Shae than for grandma, but hoped that maybe Shae’s grandma would go easier on her if I stressed the fact that getting a replacement card would be easy and free. I gave the note to Shae and told her that, although I could not keep her from getting in trouble, I believed that it was an accident.
Maybe ten minutes later, Shae returned, skipping up to me with the biggest smile. The card had been found. She gave me back the note, and gave me a huge thank you.
By then, I think I was just has happy as Shae that she had found grandma’s card.
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