Call the Family

"No, that's not true. That can't be true!" a patron screamed from the reference section.

     The reference librarian walked to the reference desk, no hurry, and picked up the phone.

     "You calling the police?" the circulation librarian asked.

     "Naw, gotta call the Family," the reference librarian said.

     The circulation librarian sighed. She shook her head, going back to the pile of DVDs. She took each one, inspected the discs, and put them on a cart. 

     The reference librarian said to the phone, "Hello? Hi, this is Chris at the library again. I know, third time. Ever since we opened for one-on-one help, people have been coming in doing genealogy and, well, you know how that goes. Sure, sure. I don't think he's going anywhere, but thank you for your help. Okay, see you soon."

     "But it can't be true," the patron screamed again.

     "One thing about one-on-one, nobody cares how much you scream in here," the circulation librarian said.

     "I tried to warn him," the reference librarian said.

     "You can only say so many times, 'you might not like what you find.'. After that, if they keep digging, that's on them. Hey, while we're waiting, can I ask you a question?"

     "Sure, Brenda. What you got for me?"

     "Have you heard about the budget cuts?"

     The reference librarian said, "Some. Evan said they were talking about cutting Mondays and Sundays. Maybe getting rid of Freddy."

     "That's horrible. Who will dust all the top shelves?"

     "Or climb in the computer when it breaks down?"

     "Or shelve the books?"

     The two librarians shuddered.

     "I am a human man being," the patron screamed.

     "You know, I'm not sure about being a librarian any more," the reference librarian said.

     The circulation librarian nodded. "It's been a tough year."

     "Not just this year. All of it. Figuring out programming. Budgets. Helping people with the same questions over and over. How do you cut and paste? What's the best way to email? What does 'evangelical apocalypse' mean? Tax forms. All of it. I'm just tired."

     "Yeah. I understand that. All of it. But I'm a few years from retirement. I don't want it all to mean nothing. I don't want to start over," the circulation librarian said.

     "Yeah," the reference librarian said.

     Someone knocked on the library door. The reference librarian let in the members of the Family. They wore white jumpsuits and hats with wide brims to protect their scales from the sun. She pointed toward the back of the library. They went to work and soon dragged the patron from the building.

     "It's just all routine and frustrating and stressful," the reference librarian said.