My So-Called "Rough" Night, the "I Promise It's Y" Exchange Type

(14:41:02 CDT)

My So-Called "Rough" Night, the "I Promise It's Y" Exchange Type

I described last night as "rough" but felt a little guilty for saying such. There was no exact reason for it be called that. It is just, the things that happened, they tired me more than they should have. Overall, there were not many people who come to the desk, no more than average; they came in tight, dense pockets. In other words, rather than getting a dozen per hour, I got half-dozen-at-once twice per hour. The rudeness was a bit high, too. People would walk in front of others. They would ignore the fact that I was on the phone. On top of that, there were times where my mind would go blank and I would have to ask again "Did you say dissaociative theory or differential association theory?" for the second or third or fourth time¹. It was the latter, which is used in criminial justice research, but my brain wouldn't hold it.

This is the kicker though, at least 2/3rds of the calls and walk-ups I had last night followed almost this exact same pattern:

Patron: I need to do X.

Librarian: Oh, ok. Well, you first need to do Y.

Patron (possible response 1, most likely ): I have already done Y and it did not work. or (possible response 2, not quite as likely) I am almost certain that you made that part about Y up.

Librarian: Hmm, I'm pretty sure that Y is the way. Why don't you retry Y and I'll be out there in one second to see why is not working

Patron (a couple of minutes later, by the time the librarian gets out there, said in a huff but usually more of a wry huff than an actually angry one): For some reason it's working now... or (if they chose option 2, above) I didn't have to do it like that last time...

Librarian: Computers [probably the cause of the problem] are weird...

As I said in the middle of that, they aren't really attacking anyone over it or acting like I am using some sort of voodoo magic to make it work from afar (spooky action at a distance!) but it is mostly the commonality of that. I get at least one of those a night. Anyone who works in a informational-reference field dealing with computers probably gets that once a night. Last night, it was just a lot of that.

There is an increasingly understood phenomenon called "Library Anxiety". LA is caused by a number of things, but at it's core is a combination of (a) thinking that libraries are dusty ivory towers full of fussy, strict people and (b) asking any question you could have potentially answered yourself is the equivalent to wearing a dunce cap while dancing the time-wasting dance. Now, some librarians try and promote the a+b of that, but I would say the majority of us do not. We shouldn't, anyhow. We do tend to like books, and we can have questionable social skills, but most of us love talking to people about books more than books themselves. And, well, if someone comes up to wondering who it was that wrote Moby Dick, I am not going to point at them and shriek in laughter while screaming "MELVILLE, YOU TWIT!". For one, that would disturb other patrons. Two, it's just poor form².

I think this feeds into the "I Promise It's Y" exchange. They want to do X. X is important to them. Maybe they thought they did Y right. Maybe they forgot Y but normally do it. Maybe it never occured to them to try Y. When the X-seeking patron comes forth, and the answer is a somewhat straightforward Y, I think it bothers them. It's like calling customer support to complain about your coffee pot not working and the CSRs ask if you remembered to hold down the red button for a few seconds. The red button you have been holding down in the past, but stopped last week in the midst of a brain fart and never started back up. Now, you have to say "Oh right, the red button". Or, do you play it off "Well, I held it down, but let me hold it down a little longer..." or maybe "It never required me to hold it down that long before..."? Compound this with the LA-concept, that people are already nervous about asking questions they perceive as dumb to people they see as unapproachable. That's where I think it comes from.

You end up protesting a fact, however real it may be, that you feel justifies your fears. This is part of the reason why I absolutely never let myself get frustrated outright with such exchanges. I've been on the other side. I know what it's like to panic over something just to find out the solution is simple. You always find this out after you fall down prone at their free, too numb from the tears to move a muscle. About a dozen, maybe more, in one night, though? That can be rough on the nerves. Especially since every fourth or fifth one often requires a hefty talking up and/or talking down point depending on how frustrated the patron is.

Si Vales, Valeo

1: It turned out to be the latter, which is used in criminal justice research.

2: Asking me who wrote The Count of Monte Carlo, though, makes you fair game.

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