What is wrong with people?!

Ok, everyone knows my tolerance for ignorance or stupidity is zero. So one of my co-workers gets subject request and I am just floored how stupid some people are! For those of you that don't know, we get subject requests from the parish libraries when they can't fill the information from their own collection. I actually got one that wanted the entire list of banned books. Ok, this is not a set list. It is fluid so it changes quite frequently, but this is just the kind of mindset people have. If I need it for a report or whatever it must be there in the form that I need it in. Guess what, not so.

Anyway, the request my co-worker got was so absolutely ridiculous that I am not sure who is the bigger moron, the person who came into the library and asked for this information, or the person who actually typed it up and emailed it to us. This was the request "How to use a tape measure"! WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS! What kind of idiotic person could not take the time to explain to the patron how a tape measure is used. I am really hoping that this library worker was just laughing to hard to actually answer the guy or he/she just told him that they had no books on the subject and would have to send it to us to get rid of him. But unfortunately, this is all to typical.

I don't think the library workers are trained properly as to how to use things like the databases that we have available throughout the state or even in some cases how to use the internet. In the cases of the lacking of any type of computer savvy, I would suggest putting these people in positions that do no require them to use the computer. In the other cases, I would suggest that they train their staff on what databases are available, how to use them, which ones the databases are accessible through their patrons home computers. Many of the questions we receive here are very simple ones that could be answered using the databases. We are paying a lot of money for them and it is like the parish libraries don't even use them.

Ok so our resident noise machine has made an appearance again, first time in a month. I get off the desk in 17 minutes so I am praying that he does not have any printing problems. He has too many physical and mental problems to count, but I know that I am not mentally prepared to deal with any of them. He is at the computer right now grunting and humming. Yesterday we had a guy who started coming in after the hurricane. He was coming in pretty regularly for awhile, everyday for at least a month or two after the storm. He is apparently from Luling which is right outside of New Orleans. I know this b/c he would come in, get on the computer and proceeded to fill out every pop up add for a credit card, car loan, you have just won this that came up. And he doesn't understand when you tell him it is a scam, or when you try to explain the computer to him. He is not old, only a few months older than my mother but my God he is frustrating! So yesterday he came in, sat at the computer and proceeded to fall asleep 4 different times. Each time he was awoken by the security guard.

I am certainly not telling these people anything. We used to have this schizophrenic woman who would cuss and curse the computer, stand up and talk to imaginary people about the racists, verbally attack any of the police officers who told her to quiet down, ask for their badge number and threaten to sue them. Oh and all of them were racists, kind of funny since most of them were themselves black. Anyway, she would repeatedly not just fall asleep at the computer but get comfortable and lay her head down next the computer before snoring loudly. She wasn't just drifting off. She was a bit of a loose cannon and I did not know when she was going to explode so I let the security guards and police officers wake all sleeping patrons since then.

I soooo love my job! Sorry venting!