Past The Point Of No Return, Part 2

(I have reserved an audio-book at the library and have come in to get it. I am looking at other books, when another customer runs up to me and grabs my reserved books—which still have my name on it—out of my hands.)

Customer: “Oh, my goodness! I have been looking everywhere for this one!”

(She starts to walk away from me with the audio-book in her hand.)

Me: “Um, ma’am. That’s my audio-book. I reserved it.”

Customer: “Why do you have to be so greedy! I want this book! It’s not yours; it doesn’t have your name on it!”

Me: *pointing to the large sticker with my name on it* “Actually, it is!”

(The customer scoffs, and tears the sticker off.)

Customer: “There! Now it’s not! Thanks for the book!”

(She storms off to the self check-out counter, and then starts screaming when it won’t let her check the book out. A librarian comes over to find out what the screaming is all about. I stand just behind her.)

Librarian: “What seems to be the problem?”

Customer: “There is something wrong with this machine! It won’t let me check this audio-book out!”

Me: “Actually there is nothing wrong with the machine. That’s my book that she stole out of my hands. I reserved it over a week ago!”

(The librarian turns to me, obviously not paying attention to what I was saying.)

Librarian: “Ma’am, please wait your turn.”

Customer: “I want this book! This girl tried to take it from me! She’s too young to be reading a book like this! It’s too big for her!”

(The librarian takes the audio-book from the lady and asks to see her library card. After trying to check the book out and it giving her a fail message a few times, she ‘deems’ the book broken, and therefore not able to check out. She starts to walk away with the audio-book, when I stop her.)

Me: “May I try something real quick?”

(The librarian shrugs and hands me the audio-book.)

Customer: “It won’t work! Are you stupid, little girl? She just said that it was broken.”

(Within seconds, I scan my library card and the audio-book. It checks out with no issues.)

Librarian: “Well that was interesting! Why didn’t it have your name on the side?”

Customer: “Oh! I thought she did that herself. She looked like a greedy little girl that felt the need to put her name on everything!”

Me: “Well ma’am, like I told you, I reserved the book. And by the way, I am almost 30. I am in no way a little girl, and even when I was a little girl I loved to read ‘big books’.”

(I turn to the librarian.)

Me: “It did have my name on it, but she tore it off and threw it at me.”

Customer: “So… can I have that book now?”

Librarian and Me: *at the same time* “NO!”