I never thought that I would find antagonistic forces at the Brooklyn Public Library. On this occasion I went to the Highlawn Branch and boy did I come across some great staff that exhibited unprofessional behavior. Libraries aren't what they use to be anymore. In my childhood they were actually a quiet place where you could hear a pin drop. Nowadays they are staffed with bullies that mock you and mumble underneath their breathes without giving a fig about being professional. Relaxing with a book is so not an option.
My tale begins with a protagonist, myself, who battles evil forces just to maintain civility at the library. So I walk in and I was talking on the phone with my boyfriend about a personal matter, I find a table empty of any occupants which is a rarity. I sit down and take out my keys on the table and my notebook. I thought this was a perfect opportunity for some quality time writing. I was still in the midst of the conversation and one of the female staff members passes by the table looking for keys. She sees my keys on the table which I had just taken out of my bag not more then a minute ago and asked a young man if those were his keys. I looked and scrutinized her. Why would she think I have his keys with a female shoe key chain on it? I suppose one can always consider that the young man had a shoe fetish. I guess my notebook was also his and just happened to be at my house hence inside my bag!! So the woman starts looking for keys at the computer terminals and when she noticed everybody raising their heads and looking at her she said "I am not looking at you but for his keys!"
My phone conversation was still ongoing at this point and I was having an argument. At this point the a male staff member came with a cart of books and DVDs, banging it right into to my table. For the point of this narrative we'll call him Yuri. Since he was not wearing a name tag and lacked the manners to introduce himself that is what we will go by. So he grabs my attention and then the mumbling began. It was incoherent at best but it was a common incident when I am in the library and this Yuri was working. I was starting to fume, I understood if this was coincidental once, twice maybe even three times but this happened every time I came here and this Yuri was working. I had enough!!!! So I got up and went to him saying, " Would you stop looking at me and mumbling at the same time!" He didn't respond right away but I walked away to find a supervisor. I found the previous female staff member and I asked her who the supervisor was. I went to the supervisor with that female staff member and found myself being spurned with her saying, "If you need help you can go to that female at that desk." I responded with, "I would like to speak to a supervisor." During this time while I was waiting for her that individual came back and yelled at me so loudly that the whole library heard. He said, " I would not look at you. I am not interested in looking at you". I turned around and told him, "Well maybe you should be professional then." She came back after the encounter and I angrily said, "I find being the target of this type of behavior very strange and weird. Whenever I come to the library this guy always bumps into the table I am sitting at and mumbles when he passes me. I really don't understand this behavior". I continued, "Considering this is a public library I don't understand how he always ends up at my table, mumbling and staring. Should I consider myself in danger? I find it also very unprofessional and makes me uncomfortable. I really don't find this coincidental any longer since it has exceeded more then three encounters." She asked me who he was and walked away without further conversation.
Albeit I can see that I was coming across as a drama queen with the use of the word "danger" but I was trying to make her understand how acutely uncomfortable I was.
Wordlessly she took me and Yuri into a room, that was used for tutoring or homework, where I repeated what I said to her. I also mentioned that I was with a person last time that witnessed that behavior and that this time I was by myself. He shuffled his feet and didn't make any eye contact with me or her. He responded saying that he was just talking to himself so he could figure out his work. He was only there so he can shelve the DVDs and books. His supervisor responded by saying that he should be aware of his environment and if he needed a moment to himself he should go to a private room. His body language and mumbling might make other people uncomfortable. Then she turned around and apologized to me for the occurrence. I accepted the apology and left. She had further private conversation with Yuri that I wasn't privy to.
I found myself an isolated corner where he hopefully wouldn't bump into me again. I stayed there for a while reading interchangeably with writing. Nevertheless, I couldn't concentrate and gave up. Heaving a sigh I finally got up because I wanted to print something from the computer terminal. I ended up at the printer and swiped for my printout. The printer wasn't working and just when I was about to scratch my head another female staff member approached with some other person who had a similar problem before. To further understand my narrative I will describe her appearance and give her a name Anne. Anne was a Black woman that use to be very heavy but lost weight dramatically in a short span of time. I had seen her at this library over the course of more then three years and she was a fixture. Anne attitude was very abrupt and annoyed. Whats wrong with the printer?" Thrown off by her sudden appearance at the onset of my new predicament I replied, "Uhhhh................. It doesn't work." Shortly after I realized she was talking to another person. She pressed a couple of buttons and rushed away bumping into me so hard that my bag almost fell onto the floor. I looked behind me and didn't understand why she brushed by me so closely when there was literally no one next to me and so much room! She apologized. I got my printout and started looking for books.
I found a couple of books by authors that I had read before. Then I came across a book which is considered to be from, brace yourself...................... the urban genre. Not one to discriminate and a reader of all types of books, I picked it up. The title read "Hell's Diva" By Anna J. It was a thin book and a fast enough read. I had been introduced to urban books while I was in Junior High School but I never read a book until I worked as a young professional. My fellow co-worker had given me a book with the title of "Bitch" by Deja King which had mesmerized me. That had opened me to Urban Books and a different world. I went to check out my books and found that I couldn't take the book out. There was some sort of technically difficulty which just added to my eventful library experiences.
I approached information with the book and no alias a woman by the name of Bridget. She was baffled and didn't know how to fix the problem. There was a volunteer who joined us and was interpreting what I guessed to be Chinese, to an elderly Asian woman. At this point I was just a fly on the wallpaper and utterly ignored without resolution to my problem. I got impatient at one point and mentioned if I could take the book out or not. She whispered she needed my help and raising an eyebrow I tried to help. The only conclusion she could come up with was that it was my card which wasn't really mine that caused the problem. I told her if that was the case then I shouldn't have been able to take any book out! Relieved she saw Anne come out and told her I needed help.
A child with his mom rushed by me and tried to resolve their issue first. Bridget tried to intervene and said I was here first. I found that ironic since she ignored me for someone else earlier. Anne just shrugged her shoulders.
Finally I gave her the book I wanted to borrow. All of a sudden I heard a soft spoken utterance, "You read that kinda urban book?" I turned around and said, "Yeaaaaaa............" It was a woman of small stature, chocolate in complexion and from what I could tell a friend of Anne's. She barked in laughter "Hell's Diva" while Anne laughed alongside with her. Apparently the title was very comical yet I didn't get the jest. Then she turned around and said, "Where did you get the book?" "From the new books section" I replied. At this point Anne told me she had to the link the book so I could take it out. Her friend asked Anne if it was from the Young adult section at the she time chucking to herself. I took my book receipt and exasperated thanked Anne. I walked away from this horrid experience fully understanding why supposed young adults, such as myself don't want to read much of anything. With such adults who love to guffaw at young readers preferences, I am not surprised. Suffice it to say I am not a young adult and found it in the Adult section.
I heard Anne's friend ask her my name and Anne's response " She didn't borrow the books using her library card". I guess the privacy of the library card holder is irrelevant.
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