Saturday, August 21, 2010

Reference Question of the Day

I love the ones I can actually answer, too.
Him: “Do you work here?”
Me: “Only when I have to.”

OK, I actually said, “Ummm…yes.”

I was sitting at a desk that had a large sign above it, identifying the person at it as a reference librarian, too. Not sure why this happens, but it happens every week or so. It's odd, since when I am in stores, everybody thinks I’m the manager or something. I have walked little old ladies over to the toothpaste and families to the frozen food at my local supermarket. I always tick off a mark on the stats sheet when I get back to the library, figuring that it fits the definition of reference. So why is it that, even when I’m at the desk with my goofball picture ID* affixed to my oxford button down shirt that I would not wear at home because it’s too dressy, would people ask that?



*Actually, the picture ID is great, since I sometimes forget what I looked like on the first day of my job. "Hang on a sec, who is this optimistic-looking fellow without much gray hair? Oh, wait, that was me. Back then."

3 comments:

shushie said...

Haha. I love it when I'm asked if I'm paid to work here, as if I'm some secret heiress to the Kroger fortune, lovingly donating 8+ hours a day of my free time not spent on my yacht to work in a medium sized suburban library.

DeskSlave said...

Yeah, it's almost as good as "must be nice to have a job where you get to sit around and read books all day."

Madhamster said...

We get those questions in New Zealand, too!

I've also been asked "do you know what time you close?" - my colleague and I came up with a list of responses to that one...
"Nope, we just go home when we're told" was our favourite.