Fall Of The Contrarian Librarian

(I’m a patron at my local library. The librarian at the desk seems perfectly pleasant, until a young woman who looks to be in her late teens walks in.)

Librarian: *to the patron she’s serving* “Ugh, I hate the high school brats. They come in all the time, always taking all of the computers to go on the internet!”

(The librarian is speaking loudly enough that the young woman had to have heard her, but she ignores it. She walks towards the service counter as the librarian continues ranting about teenagers to every patron she serves. The librarian is so caught up in her comments that she doesn’t notice the young woman walk around into the employee-only section of the building, ending up at the check-out station next to the librarian. The librarian finally realizes it when she starts scanning books.)

Librarian: “What the f*** do you think you’re doing?”

(The young woman ignores her again, and the librarian goes off, screaming about teenagers.)

Librarian: “You should know your place! I don’t understand why you’re not in school. It’s the middle of the day, you f****** high school brat!”

(The young woman gets through half of the books in the pile in front of her before finally having enough. She motions for the patron she’s serving to wait a moment, and then turns to the librarian.)

Young Woman: “First of all, you should watch your language. This is a library, and despite the time of day, children could very well be present. Second of all, I am 22, therefore not an ‘effing high school brat,’ as you so eloquently put it, nor should I be in school right now since I graduated from [College] several months ago.”

Librarian: “I don’t care how old you are! You don’t f****** belong back here!”

Young Woman: *smirking* “How long have you worked here?”

Librarian: *arrogantly* “Two months!”

Young Woman: “Well, I’m [Name]. I’ve been a volunteer here off and on since I was 13. In case you can’t do the math, that’s nine years. I am perfectly allowed to serve patrons, despite not having a scheduled shift here, as I have done so for a very long time. I even have a letter of recommendation from the library director.”

Librarian: “The library director? I don’t believe you!”

Young Woman: “Yes. In fact, I could call her for you. I have her number.”

(The librarian apologizes hurriedly and avoids the young woman for the rest of her shift. The next time I was at the library, the young woman was there again, and told me that the other librarian had been fired. Apparently she had gone off about high schoolers again, this time calling the director’s 28-year-old son a ‘f****** teenager’ in front of his six-year-old son!)