Whining 101

I love people who:

• Want something for nothing
• Then don't understand why there are rules when something is for nothing

Once again I'm fantasizing about what life was like before librarians had to deal with public Internet terminals. Again, a good idea - in theory.

I had a guy come in tonight who thought he was "normal." Trust me, nuttier than a fruitcake. Give me a schizophrenic taking his meds any day of the week. At least they know they're crazy. Anyway, back to this guy, he didn't understand why we required people to have library cards to access our computers. Then he didn't understand why we only allowed them one hour a day - and why we wouldn't grant additional time if no one was waiting in line.

My pat answer? Because others have abused our policies in the past so now we must be hard asses.

OK, I didn't phrase it quite like that.

What I really wanted to say was, "Ever heard of the expression that there's no such thing as a free lunch?"

It's always the Internet policy people question. It's never about books. I'd kill for a patron to ask me "Why can I only check out 50 books on my card?!"

Nope, they only question why they can only check out 3 DVDs or 5 VHSs.

It's obvious my long weekend off from work wasn't nearly long enough.