I am out yet again at the front desk with my worst co-worker of all time.
Or so I call this person. But is this library worker really my worst co-worker?
Let me ask you a question:
Would you rather have library help, or any customer service for that matter, from a gruff, rude person? One who seems to hate you and everything they are doing at their job, but does it in a somewhat timely manner and to an adequate standard? Or would you prefer someone who seems very nice, and is friendly and helpful, but who takes an incredibly long time to do anything, though you may or may not notice it, and gives you subtly wrong information, and may cause long-lasting mistakes with what they do and say that could dog your steps for days, weeks, or months?
I have had a couple of each kind of co-worker, and I have certainly experienced both as a civilian, and I'll admit it's a tough call. But I'm going to take the rude person to get it over with, and leave the accolades of "worst ever" for the person who leaves a trail of ticking time bombs wherever they go.
And it is crucial to note, just because someone seems nice, or friendly, or helpful, doesn't mean that they are.
The other day I was noticing some of the things on my co-workers' lockers, and I was surprised to find how much these little stickers and cartoons and magnets told about the soul of the people who chose to put them up. My worst co-worker has a cartoon pasted on their locker and, though I don't believe in a million years they would believe it to be in any way something other than a simple joke, it is actually an exact confession of their soul at work.
I think they would be shocked by this suggestion, and yet, so it is.
In this cartoon a green, Cthulu looking, squid-faced monster is standing behind a library desk and is asked by a man "Why are you working customer service in a library?"
The Cthulu monster, aka my co-worker, quietly says "I used to think I was indifferent to human suffering."
And adds:
"Then I realized I wanted to cause a little more."