Aisle 27

Aisle 27: The Best Seller/Stationary aisle

I've been called into work the night shift at the library. What joy. To add onto this I am working by my lonesome and have a large back log of reserves to digitize. Will any of this get done tonight? Well I'm getting one part of one of the larger packets done, so that's something. But other than that I'm just working the circulation desk.

Yep. Working the old circ and reserve desk. All night. Dealing with people's problems. "I have a block," "these books are over due," "what's my password," "where can I find a book?" These are the things I get asked and told. Occasionally I get a nice person who's polite, some times I get a horrendous person that pitches a fit because I can't remove their block as only two supervisors have that power and the night super called out, which is why I'm here. I tend to like the rude people a bit more than the nice people because they make my job challenging. I mean I could just slap them in the face and say, "Fuck you, you have a fine because you are a lazzy ass who didn't want to drive in and return some books when they were due, this is all your fault not mine baby, so suck it" but that would be unprofessional. So I'm calm, I'm cool, I'm fully working with what they throw at me. One day I am so going to get written up for my chill responces.

Patron: I'd like to return these books.
Me: Ok just drop them off here and we'll check them in.
Pat: They're late, like alot.
Me: Oh, really? (Checks the books in) Why yes, they are indeed late. That will be $2.40.
Pat: But they were due during the break and I couldn't get down.
Me: Well we were open during the break and if you needed to renew them you could have called us and we would have been happy to renew them for you.
Pat: So do I have to pay?
Me: Well because the books went into billing yes, if you want your blocks to come off, if you don't care then I guess you don't.
Pat: Blocks?
Me: The books were over due for an extended period and placed into billing status. Once that happens you get a block on your library account as well as a hold on your schedule. The notice that gets sent to you will have an enormously large fine but once you return the books, bang the fine goes down. Regardless the holds and the blocks are still there. In order to remove them you must pay the remaining fine. Which is $2.40.
Pat: But I live far away.
Me: (Looking at the record and seeing that the patron lives twenty minutes away) Well, like I said we were open all break and we have staff that travels over an hour to get here, I myself have a fourty-five minute walk to get here. But regardless you still have a fine, for $2.40.
Pat: But I need to register for classes.
(side note: today just happens to be the first day of classes)
Me: Then you have to pay the fine, but just to warn you I can't take the schedule hold off. It won't be off till tomorrow around eight, eight-thirty. As I don't have the authority to remove this block.
Pat: Well does anyone here have that authority?
Me: Not at the momment the one person who could has called out, which is why I am currently working tonight.
Pat: So I can't register for classes?
Me: Not until you pay me and wait till tomorrow morning.
Pat: This is bullshit.
Me: Yeah. It does suck. Sorry. But them's the breaks.
Pat: What?
Me: That's the policy.
Pat: Fine I'll pay the fine.
Me: Ok. $2.40.
Pat: Can you break a fifty?
wah wah waaaaaaaaaah

Aisle 34 and 3/4

Aisle 34 and 3/4: The Bargin Music Bin

Last Friday I finally saw Gogol Bordello, quite possibly one of my favorite bands ever. Very great band, great stage presence, great music, bad mics. I mean the mics kept cutting out on the band it was total shite.

Everytime I go to a concert I look at it from a sound designer's point of view, despite the fact I am a novice at sound design. Stll, I listen to the house's mix, think up ways to improve the vocals and overall sound of the show, and I am a bastard when it comes to the house music they play inbetween bands. Honestly I think many places don't even put half a thought into the music they play. None of it goes with the present bands nor does the music go with itself. I'm all for contrasting musical choices to shake things up in a line up but having a pop R&B song following a punk song and right before an old jazz standard makes NO sense.

Music has a flow to it that you must acknowledge when creating background music to fill in space between acts. You don't want anything to be too over whelming or risk having the music over power the show (which is a rarity I'm sure). You want to have the music just on the back of the audience's minds. It serves as a link between the acts and as a nice way to spark conversation between the socially inept. For example you throw in a song everyone knows, a song that people almost always here and respond well to. Such a song would be Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes. You put that on and you'll have people singing along with it, recanting stories of when the heard the song, what movies it's been in, how fucking awesome Gross Point Blank was. It's an easy choice.

I tell you, house music is greatly underapreciated.