Day 47: Flattery will get you everywhere

This is more of a PSA than a true lesson...

In the past few weeks, I've seen a lot of my friends being stepped on entitled people, demanding they do things for them and behaving as though my friends are in the wrong for turning them down. So I suppose it's about time I confronted this one.

Lesson 44: Entitlement will get you nowhere.

I had work today, and I've dealt with some people overstepping their bounds before, being demanding , but today I had some right peaches.

We usually give out headphones, either earbud or the kind that clip over your ears. But they're very popular. We ran out of earbuds a while ago, and ever since, I've had a lot of people ask me "don't you have the kind that go in your ears?" when I hand them the clippy ones. Usually, their reaction to this disappointment is reasonable. "Oh well, thank you for these ones!" though I did have a few who acted like it was a personal affront to them that we would dare try to give them the clip-on headphones rather than the earbuds.

Now, we're out of both, have been since sometime last week. Headphones are an easily forgotten item, and people know that they can just get new ones from us, so we go through them quick. But today, when someone asked for some and I had none to give, while I was already in the middle of helping someone else, instead of a "oh, too bad, thanks anyways" or similar answer, I get a sighing, exasperated "Still?" followed by an eyeroll and "Fine, I guess I'll go see if another library has them."

If you are asking someone for a favour, don't expect them to do it. You are not entitled to it; they are doing you a favour. When you act like that, you don't engender a desire in that person to help you in the future.

I feel like I shouldn't have to wish University students would ask nicely and be polite. At our age, it should be a given.

Day 36: Exhaustion

I set a ridiculous number of alarms to make sure I wake up in the morning. I set two on my iPad, 3 on my computer, and at least 2 on my cellphone, all to make sure that when the time comes that I wanted to wake up at the night before, I have no choice but to wake up.

The different alarms coming from different sources all sound at different times and must be found and shut off separately. That makes one so awake, there's no sleeping past your alarm. And that is what I count on.

Lesson 36: Sometimes, no matter how many alarms you set, exhaustion will win out and you will sleep through every one of them without even realizing it.

After the past three days of stress and minimal, low-quality sleep, that is just what happened to me this morning.

So now, I'll study the slides from the class I missed until I have to go to work.

But for the first time this week, I'm starting to feel human again.

Day 25: Too sick for lyfe

Gorram colds. Forced myself into work today because stupid health. No real lesson today. Just a killer need for sleep.

How do you get better from a cold as fast as possible? Make that my lesson for the day!

Day 11: Laundry day / See you there / Underthings / Tumbling

An interesting confluence of fate. Because I was running a little late, I ran right past my friend from middle school/early high school, and didn't even know it until he posted on my Facebook wall that he thought he saw my doppleganger. I'm sure there's a lesson in that...

But no classes today, just work. I had a rather redundant feeling lesson on library organization and shelving order. My official supervisor, after more than a week of me working there, taught me how to organize call numbers and alphabetize.

Lesson 13: People love to teach, but hate to learn. Being taught information you feel you already know inspires feelings of indignation, but teaching people about things, even if they claim to already know them, makes you feel productive and useful. If you feel like you already know something, sitting and listening may feel like a waste of time, but you never know when you might learn that a space counts as a letter.

Day 3: Libraries Libraries Libraries!

First day of lectures! First day of work! Phew!

Lesson 4) The solitude of the stacks is inner calm like nothing else.