When They Want Everything Including The Kitchen Sink

I’m heading out from the main library space to the front office to give something to my director. The front hallway has a few doors: the front office, a community event room, two public restrooms, and tucked off around a corner, the staff kitchen.

I see a regular (and sometimes problematic) patron pass the restrooms and walk into the staff kitchen.

Me: “Oh, excuse me, [Patron]. That’s our kitchen; it’s not open to the public.”

Patron: “I’m just getting my water bottle.”

Me: “What?”

Patron: “I put my water bottle in the fridge so it stays cold.”

Me: “I’m sorry, you can’t do that. The fridge — the whole kitchen — is a staff-only area.”

Patron: “But you’re a public library, aren’t you? That means you work for us. It’s unfair of you to ban us from the kitchen. You work for us, so it’s ours!”

Me: “I’m sorry, [Patron], but that’s not how it works.”

Patron: “That’s my kitchen, too! You’re a public library!”

Me: “No, the staff kitchen is off-limits to patrons.”

My director came out of her office and backed me up, and the patron grumpily took his water bottle and left.

He’s been here all summer but he’s told me he doesn’t own property and makes his money day-trading stocks so he can avoid as many taxes as possible. Even if taxpayers were my boss (that’s not how it works), his taxes probably contribute a smaller proportion of the library budget than mine!