Need a vacation

Longtime readers already know that since the catastrophic events of 2005, this site has almost completely phased out reportage upon the discomforting (or, if you like, amusing) absurdities of the public library environment. In case any of those longtime readers were wondering if this was because those absurdities have somehow ceased to be, I'm afraid the answer is a resounding no.

The library has been, is, and will likely always be a haven for nutcases (on either side of the reference desk). Spending the day here, one observes a pageant of sublime dysfunction not unlike what one would find on Bourbon street at 4:00 AM on a Sunday with only a subtle difference in smell. Whatever difference there may be in the presence of intoxicants is not observable through the behavior of the participants. Not very many of us need to pull double shifts to keep both scenes staffed with weirdos. There are plenty to go around in this town.

Today is no exception. We've had our regular progress of eccentrics, paranoids, hypochondriacs, homeless, and (worst of all) uptown housewives come through today. But I've more or less come to expect this and so I hardly, if ever, write about it any more. Most people are crazy. In what way is that news?

But every now and again, this permanent condition of nuttiness under which the public labors manages to produce a noteworthy item or two. Like say... when one of them hands me a note.



It's funny because it's true.