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Umbridge and the Dementors
Feb. 5th, 2016 07:57 am I accidentally agreed to work at the one branch of the Ramsey County Library system that I usually avoid like the plague it is. In fact, I think my boss is on to me, because she tricked me.
Her: "Oh, how about 9 to 1 on Friday?"
Me: (unsuspecting) "Oh, yeah, I could do that."
Her: (with a note of triumph in her voice) "Great! It'll be S----."
Me: (silent screaming of rage, 'oh no, not Umbridge and the Dementors!') "Oh... uh... great. I'll... uh, put that down on the calendar...' (more silent cursing.)
So, I don't know what a person does to prepare for Azkaban, but I decided to stop and get two cups of my favorite coffee latte from my favorite coffee store. I'm hoping that will help me be perky as my soul is slowly sucked out for the next four hours as the boss of that branch cheerfully/not-cheerfully sputters "NO PROBLEM" (subtext: 'YOU F*CKED UP!!!') any time I make some tiny mistake that at any other library would be laughed off and/or gently corrected.
It's also just... grueling. The Dementors hate substitutes and so we are given the repetitive and back breaking tasks, things like hand checking books in. It's the kind of work that makes a person start to think they work at a book factory, not a library. In the past, they had me doing that one thing for the whole four hours (most branches trust subs enough to let them shelve or work the desk or answer phone to mix things up a bit, so it's not just mind-numbing monotonous work for the entire shift.)
What always amuses me about S----, is that it seems that nearly everyone at the other branches feels the same way about them. When I first started, it was kind of an initiation/are-you-one-of-us-or-a-robot kind of questions: "A sub, eh? So... have you been EVERYWHERE....?" And, I'd say, "Yes, I've been to every branch now." And, they'd drop their voice and ask, "So... what do you think of S---?" To which I replied, "Oh, you mean Umbridge and the Dementors?" And then we would laugh and I would have a fast friend for life. Last time I stopped in at Roseville, they lamented that they hadn't seen me in a while and asked if I was getting many hours and when I told them I'd been tricked into working this particular shift they nodded solemnly and said softly, "I swear that's the only way [boss] gets people to work there."
So that's what I have to look forward to today. Hope y'all are doing better!
Her: "Oh, how about 9 to 1 on Friday?"
Me: (unsuspecting) "Oh, yeah, I could do that."
Her: (with a note of triumph in her voice) "Great! It'll be S----."
Me: (silent screaming of rage, 'oh no, not Umbridge and the Dementors!') "Oh... uh... great. I'll... uh, put that down on the calendar...' (more silent cursing.)
So, I don't know what a person does to prepare for Azkaban, but I decided to stop and get two cups of my favorite coffee latte from my favorite coffee store. I'm hoping that will help me be perky as my soul is slowly sucked out for the next four hours as the boss of that branch cheerfully/not-cheerfully sputters "NO PROBLEM" (subtext: 'YOU F*CKED UP!!!') any time I make some tiny mistake that at any other library would be laughed off and/or gently corrected.
It's also just... grueling. The Dementors hate substitutes and so we are given the repetitive and back breaking tasks, things like hand checking books in. It's the kind of work that makes a person start to think they work at a book factory, not a library. In the past, they had me doing that one thing for the whole four hours (most branches trust subs enough to let them shelve or work the desk or answer phone to mix things up a bit, so it's not just mind-numbing monotonous work for the entire shift.)
What always amuses me about S----, is that it seems that nearly everyone at the other branches feels the same way about them. When I first started, it was kind of an initiation/are-you-one-of-us-or-a-robot kind of questions: "A sub, eh? So... have you been EVERYWHERE....?" And, I'd say, "Yes, I've been to every branch now." And, they'd drop their voice and ask, "So... what do you think of S---?" To which I replied, "Oh, you mean Umbridge and the Dementors?" And then we would laugh and I would have a fast friend for life. Last time I stopped in at Roseville, they lamented that they hadn't seen me in a while and asked if I was getting many hours and when I told them I'd been tricked into working this particular shift they nodded solemnly and said softly, "I swear that's the only way [boss] gets people to work there."
So that's what I have to look forward to today. Hope y'all are doing better!