The Misfit and The Library

Last night Andrew and I watched a PBS show called America in Primetime. It is a four-part series, but this was the first time we'd ever heard of the show. The episode we watched is called The Misfit. It was really interesting. We are going to have to watch the other episodes at PBS.com now. During the show's many interviews, there was a series of comments about narcissism that went like this (a few comments about narcissism are left out because they are not important to my point):

Mitchell Hurwitz (Creator of Arrested Development): "It's interesting to think whether narcissism will always be funny in comedy. It might be a temporal thing, it might be right now. It does seem to be a very strong voice in comedy right now."

Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development's George Bluth Sr.): "I am absolutely consumed with narcissism. I think this stuff about Twitter and Facebook is very odd. I don't think it is about communication. I don't think it's about communication when you say, 'I just bought a grape'. Who cares if you bought a grape."

In between these statements they had news headlines in the background that said things like, "It's all about me - and my entourage. Facebook list: Narcissism or a social shift?", and "Mirror, Mirror on the (Facebook) Wall."

This got me thinking. I don't ever really get on my Facebook page. I just don't feel the need to inform everyone about what I'm doing... so why do I use this page for that purpose? Maybe I am using this blog as an outlet for my narcissism. Maybe that is why I tell myself that I don't really care if anyone reads this, but then I get sad if I receive no comments on a post and really excited when someone comments.

Ron Howard (You know who he is, come on...): "Narcissists never have any idea that they are raging a-holes. They have their logic. They see the world a particular way."

Okay, now this brings me to the next part of my post (soon to be vent, so hold on, roll your eyes, or click away, because it is about to get all real up in here), The Library. Specifically the Orem library. I often go to the library after dropping Andrew off at work. Today was no different.



I dropped Andrew off and thought "I should have checked out that book called Thanks! when I saw it displayed at the library. Right now is the best time to read it. I'll get ready for Thanksgiving by reading that book and starting a Gratitude Journal." When I got to the library the book was no longer out on their Holiday Books display table. I knew I shouldn't have walked past it two days in a row without checking it out! I decided to put it on hold, but I didn't know the correct title or author. I walked the five steps to the information desk in that area. The librarian was on her cell phone. No, she was not a teenage girl, she was middle aged and looked like a stereotypical librarian (except for the cell phone).

I waited for her.

She finally says to the person on the other line, "Just one moment." I tell her that I have a quick question, she quickly says, "Okay," as if it better be a quick question. I ask her if she knew about the book that was no longer on the display table. She tells me, "Well, it's probably been checked out." Really, is that what happened to the book? I thought it had been abducted and was suffering through painful Non-Grateful Alien experiments! I then say, "Yes, but I wanted to put it on hold and I don't know the author." The librarian looks at me like I am a long winded idiot (which I usually am, but I wasn't being one just then). "We just pull what is relevant to the theme for the table. There are about 15 different staff members that put things out," she told me. At which point she starts to type the name of the book into their catalog. "I tried to pull it up on the library catalog, but the link to the book titled 'Thanks' just sent me to information on a bilingual book titled 'Gracias'." She then stares at me and says, "Well there is probably more to the title". She continues to look at me, so I tell her thank you for her help (maybe I don't need that book after all) and that I will just find the book online when I get home. She then puts her phone back to her ear and says "Sorry about that, thanks for holding on," as I walk away from her and her very narcissistic self.

Maybe I'm too harsh. Maybe her personal business was very urgent. Maybe she didn't have time to wait until her break. Maybe she didn't have time to ask someone to watch the desk while she took her important call. Maybe I'm the narcissistic one and felt that being a patron at the library meant that I should take precedence over the librarian's phone call while she was at work. Maybe.