Sandwiched In Between Everything Else...

Here we go again.  Trying to write while on the Customer Service Desk.  It is a Saturday morning, we have three birthday parties scheduled in the meeting rooms.  So far, two groups have shown up. Hope the other one either doesn't show, or realizes they only have the room for the MORNING, someone else is there at noon.
Such drama in the library.  Meeting rooms are usually the largest source of drama.  Either they thought they booked something they didn't book, or they need one thing after another.  On rare occasions, they break the rules and put candles on a birthday cake.  THEN the smoke alarms go off, we have to evacuate the ENTIRE building, the fire department shows up, and all the folks who were using our free internet access get REALLY peeved.  Thank God that hasn't happened on one of my days lately.  Better not happen today, it is frippin' COLD outside.
 (At least we don't have any Vashta Nerada (deadly shadow creatures from Doctor Who) in OUR library.  If we did, I know a few customers who would have disappeared LONG ago...)

We may have a ghost in the library, though.  We think it is female, and a young person.  Most who have heard anything from it have heard sounds of giggling, or of children playing.  I think it is a happy and friendly presence, because I sense nothing at all that makes me uneasy in this place, and I have been known to feel things in other places that have had less benevolent spirits reported in them, even before I'd heard stories.  One old house that my Grandfather was caretaker of, there was something in that house.  There was a presence that was not threatening, but there was another that made me uneasy.  I was in there alone once during a thunderstorm, and I really couldn't get outside fast enough, never mind the rain and lightening.   There have been other places where I just had to get out of the building, there was an oppressive, unpleasant atmosphere.  (Thankfully, the last that affected me that way was recently torn down.)    It doesn't happen often.  Only VERY rarely.

Is it evil to think of getting a weeping angel figure and putting it in a coworkers cubicle?  Even if they are a serious Doctor Who fan?  They might think it was funny.  Honestly.  They might.

Our library system here is one of the best institutions to work for that I have ever experienced.  My coworkers are all fun to be with and the whole system feels like an extended family.  The ethic of service to our customers throughout the system makes it easy to do what we need to do to connect our customers to the materials and information they want.  Then again, I always have felt that those of us in education, like the library or public schools, are people with a holy calling, not a desire to make money.  (Because you certainly don't make a lot of money working in the public sector in a field related to education.)  That dedication to purpose is what makes working together feel so effortless sometimes.  I come to work and actually have a good time.  Because I am having a good time, I get a lot done.  When I get going on checkins, I can usually clear a large tub full of items and get them sorted in about an hour.  This depends on how many phone calls we get.  (Meeting room bookings can be time consuming.) 
Our customers also tend to be very nice people.  Everybody has a bad day once in a while, but most folks who come in here are glad to be here, and they are pleasant.  There are the regulars, whom we usually know by name, and they know us, and ask after staff they haven't seen for awhile.  This big, impersonal looking suburb is really such a small town at heart.  (Heck, the whole state of Oklahoma feels that way sometimes.  As frustrated as I get with the politics here, I love these people, and I love this place.  It has wormed its way into my jaded, Southern California bred heart.)

It is really quiet at the desk this morning.  (Can you tell?)  It is one of those very rare days when it is actually kind of quiet in the library itself.  The only sounds I hear are the hand dryers in the bathrooms and the annoying music from the children's game computers.  The occasional throat clearing or murmuring of a question and answer.  I hear someone moving things on shelves, and a kiddo playing with the puzzles.  Of course, the automatic doors out front are opening and closing a lot, but they do that whenever something triggers the sensor.
Biggest hallelujah  moment of the day so far?  The alarm shut off for me on the first attempt! Yay!  I didn't have to explain myself to an alarm company rep for once! 

Second hallelujah moment of the day came when I found something a patron had called and said they left in a book.  The patron actually remembered which book, and it was one our branch owns, rather than one from one of the other branches.  Went to the book on the shelf, and there were her papers, right where she left them.  Called her back, and she came and picked them up.  Nice when things work out like that.  
Worst moment of the day didn't come until I was almost home.  Big Nasty Stinking Freight train was blocking 12th Street again.  Had to wait so long, the car actually got warm.  (House is less than a 5 minute drive from the library, providing trains and traffic lights are in my favor.)  Usually, the heater doesn't start blowing hot air until I get to my own driveway.
Now I have been home for about an hour and ten minutes, and it is time to contemplate food.  (And possibly drink.)    That is all for today, I think.