One of those people

Confession: I have been one of those people.

If you work in public service, you know the kind I mean. The kind that come up to the desk with some crazy question that is either impossible to answer or so ridiculous that you can't help but tell all your friends about it after they leave. In fact, I would even venture to guess that most of the population could at one point or another be classified as one of 'those' customers. I don't try to be, but in reality, sometimes it just happens. There could be a blog post about something stupid I have asked at a store somewhere... And you know what, there might even be a blog post out there about YOU!

That being said, I'm also one of those public service employees who is going to tell everyone about your stupid question. Now, I'm not trying to be malicious. I'm not going to tell everyone your name, your address, recent checkouts and how much you have racked up in fines over the past months. I'm just trying to spread joy and laughter into the lives of others. Or maybe it'll serve as a warning...

And now, one of those stories.

A man walks up to the reference desk with a CD in his hand.

Patron: Can I use this CD on any of your computers?
Real Librarian: No, I'm sorry, none of our public use computers have CD drive capabilities.
P: But I see that one does, do any of the others?
RL: Actually, that's the print release station. All it does is send items that you have printed from the public computers to the printer. None of the public use computers have CD drive capabilities.
P: But that one does (pointing again to the print release station), can I use this disk on one of the others?
RL: Sir, THAT computer is ONLY a print release station. It does not have Microsoft Office, the Internet or ANYTHING else. NONE of the computers available for public use have CD drive capabilities.
P: But...

Seriously, this conversation went on like this for about 10 minutes. People seem to think we are lying just to piss them off and make their lives miserable. This is not true! I swear I would help you if I could. And, I guarantee that this conversation was way more painful for me that it was for him.