They Are A Pain Up The Back-Entrance

I work as a floor clerk in a public library. There is one public entrance at the front of the building and one smaller staff entrance in the back. Obviously, only staff can use the staff entrance, and you can only get in with a door fob from the outside. It’s clearly marked with a “STAFF ONLY” sign smack in the middle of the door, but that doesn’t stop people from trying to use it. There is a back parking lot for employees, but there’s no concrete rule that it’s for employees only, so patrons park back there and try to use the staff door.

This happens when I’m near the back entrance moving carts from floor to floor. It’s been raining all day, but not pouring hard, which means we’re fairly busy once school hours are over.

Apparently, the front parking lot is full, and some people are parking in the back, trying to use the staff entrance. I’m near the back door when a young woman, an older woman (maybe a grandmother) and a small child approach it, and she grabs the door handle, completely bypassing the sign. It doesn’t even jiggle since it’s locked electronically. She looks at me and knocks on the door, raising her other hand up in an “Uh, hellloooo?” fashion.

Groaning internally, I open the door a crack to tell her she can’t come in. She tries to step past me, but I block her from getting through.

Woman: “Uh, excuse me? Can we go in, please?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but this is a staff entrance. The public entrance is around the front.”

Woman: “But the parking lot is full! I had to park back here!”

Me: “I’m sorry to hear that, but this entrance is for library employees only. If I let you in, everyone else will want me to let them in, as well. Only employees can unlock the door for that reason.”

Woman: “It’s pouring rain and I have a young child here! Please let us in?”

It’s not pouring by any means. I’ve worked here for five years at this point, and our “go above and beyond” policies are getting more and more ridiculous, to the point where entitled people just get whatever they ask for in almost any situation. Some staff have let patrons through the staff door if they are bullied enough, and since I’m considered to be senior staff among the clerks, I don’t give in to stupidity like this. So, I tell her, still politely, to please use the front entrance.

Woman: “But I parked back here!”

Me: “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but you’ll have to walk around to the front.”

I closed the door, which locked automatically. She didn’t move and just stared at me as I turned away. She knocked at the door again. I pointed toward the sign. She knocked on it again, harder when I turned around and walked away this time.

I knew she was going to go to the front counter to complain, so I walked over and talked to my supervisor just as she came in. My supervisor listened to her complain very loudly about me, and about how she and her kid were soaked now, but my supervisor just told her it was a staff entrance and we don’t let people use that door. She didn’t like that and stomped away further into the library with the grandmother and kid in tow, who hadn’t said a single word in this exchange to us. I was told I didn’t do anything wrong and was left at that.