Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Easy job

 

 

 

I was working in the phones area at my library and I got a super easy call. 

It was just one simple question.

The patron had gotten a phone call that an item was in, and she requests a lot of items and simply wanted to know the title of what was in for her.

She gave me the barcode number off her card.

Four items were in for her. I read the titles. 

It was funny, she thought, that she hadn't been notified about the other titles. Who were the authors of these?

I told her.

When did they each have to be picked up by.

I told her.

Could I give her one more day on one of them?

I could.

That one I extended was the third season of a mystery TV series. Where was she in line for the second season of it?

I told her.

One of the books was the new one by Jacqueline Winspear. She wanted to assure me that she read much higher quality literature normally, but she likes these mysteries for a lark.

I told her this new Jacqueline Winspear book isn't a mystery. It's a memoir about her post war childhood.

She wanted to know if it was any good.

I told her the reviews were extremely positive.

She wanted to know when Ms Winspear's next mystery series book was coming out.

I told her.

Could I put it on hold for her?

Only if it was in the catalog. I wasn't sure if it would be since it's not coming out until March.

There were several questions and answers about this, but in the end it was in the catalog, just barely, so I put her on the hold list for it.

You know that third season of the DVD TV series?

I did. It was the one whose pick up date I extended by a day.

There was no point in her getting it until season two came in for her. Could I just cancel the third season?

I could and did. 

Then she noticed a green sign had been placed on her elm tree in her front yard. They were going to have to cut it down. This was not something she could afford right now!

I commiserated.

Did I know that Hamnet was Shakespeare's son? Isn't that fascinating?

Not more so than I can bear.

A friend told her someone wrote a great book about Hamnet that her bookclub read. It was by an author with a kind of Irish name.

I looked it up. "Hamnet" was the book's name. "Would you like it?" I asked.

Yes, could I request it for her?

I could.

She said she had to go because she had to get to Bloomington for an appointment.

I gave her my blessing.

We hung up.

I looked at the clock. The call had taken twenty minutes .

I was surprised.

It was just one simple question.

 

 

 

 

 

1 comment:

If you were wondering, yes, you should comment. Not only does it remind me that I must write in intelligible English because someone is actually reading what I write, but it is also a pleasure for me since I am interested in anything you have to say.

I respond to pretty much every comment. It's like a free personalized blog post!

One last detail: If you are commenting on a post more than two weeks old I have to go in and approve it. It's sort of a spam protection device. Also, rarely, a comment will go to spam on its own. Give either of those a day or two and your comment will show up on the blog.