Routines

Unnamed Person: "Hey man, how are you?"
Me: "Good, good. How about yourself?"
UP: "Just trying to get back into my morning routine."
Me: "That's cool. Routines are hard to keep sometimes."
UP: "Especially when you are crazy."

It usually means that my day is going to be interesting when it starts off with conversations like that. That patron is bi-polar, so he's not joking about the crazy part. Personally, I think he's a bit hard on himself, but I've only met him after he began his treatments. It was taken back when he first told me about his condition, but at the same time I had admire someone who has the courage to continue to help themself get better. Some days, like today, he's talkative and friendly; others he's mellow and subdued. All in all, he's a nice guy. For all of his self-professed craziness, I wish more of the library's patrons were like him.

A public library owns its own special brand of oddness. Each one operates under the same mission (providing books and servicing the community), but all of them stand out as different. The people make them different, because the knowledge is pretty much the same.

Oh, I knew this was going to be an interesting day:

Lumberjack Guy: *mumbling to self* "Not this one... let's see.. this one.. nope, this one..."
Me: "Doing allright today?"
LJG: *looks up* "Oh yeah, just trying to solve an argument."
Me: "Do you need any help?"
LJG: "I'm building a house, and I got stuck."
Me: "The library is a good place to find the answers."
LJG: "I'll be doing something, working along and get stuck. You know?"
Me: "Oh yeah, I certainly do."
LJG: "Sometimes, I get stuck and go ask an oldtimer about what to do. They say go to the library. So, here I am."
Me: *noticing all the books he's found* "Looks like you came to the right place." New library card given, books are checked out, and then I say something stupid. "Try to stay out of the cold." It's only supposed to get up just above freezing today, and the guy is building a house.
LJG: *looks back and laughs* "I wish."

I don't make fun of the patrons, but some of the situations are funny. When they ask for strange or tabboo things, no judgements are made. For the most part, I don't know why they ask for the things they do, but I'm sure they have their reasons. To me it's all just part of the routine.