Do you have random revelations in the shower? Someone really needs to develop a waterproof tablet to hang in there to jot down my strokes of brilliance. A lot of amazing thoughts get washed down the drain along with the shampoo for lack of a suitable writing surface.
I could just get a Sharpie and write on the tile but I don't think that would be so suitable and then eventually there'd be no more room. I read a story once of a girl who wrote all her thoughts on the shower wall. But I think she was bipolar. Or maybe she was a boy. Or maybe I just made it all up. But I digress--back to the wrong words....
So. Last week my aide and I were were putting tape on paperback books to reinforce the covers. I hate this job, just so you'll know. A young man came in and leaned on the counter to visit with us. He chatted for awhile about what we were doing and why and then decided he'd take off for a more interesting diversion.
This particular young man is an aide one hour and in the library for independent study one hour. Seniors come to the library frequently for research. So I see him at least one class period a day and sometimes three. But apparently I don't really "see" him.
When he pushed off the counter to stand up, he'd been leaning on a notebook and one of the hairs on his arm was caught in one of the notebook rings. "Ouch" he said and rubbed his arm, being all dramatic. So I said, "I guess if that hurt , I'll bet you're never gonna pluck your eyebrows."
And then I looked at him.
And he said (after a brief pause, cause he couldn't believe I'd just said that) "No, I'm probably just gonna shave them." and then he rubbed the non-existent space between his eyebrows.
So I embarrassed my aide, the student and myself--three for three! woohoo! My mind is racing on how to get out of that one and I just decided to make it a joke. (Cause what else could I do and it probably (hopefully?) wouldn't be any worse.) I apologized to him and told him that I spend a lot of time with my foot in my mouth and if it is possible to say something stupid or insulting inadvertently, I was going to do it.
About the Green Haired Girl. One fine fall day, an English Teacher brought her Freshman class into the library to listen to book talks, hear a few library related items and meet the amazing librarian. They just had no idea how amazing the librarian could be.....
The class comes in, I introduce myself, point out the various parts of the library, and jump right into book talks. I love them. I can be dramatic, or silly or pretend to be a game show host or used car salesman or an airline steward to 'sell' the book. And if I can get the right hook on the book, I'm usually successful.
I recognize a few of these students from church. I happily greet M., whom I've known since she was about two. I always love to see familiar faces--I can latch on to that person and kinda perform just for them. Little did I know what my performance that day would lead me to say.
I launched into a description of a book set in medieval Europe about a traveling show with a girl with goat feet. She was in actuality an Asian girl whose feet had been bound and had somehow made it to Western Europe where she was an oddity, not only because of her feet but also her complexion, her slanted eyes and long, straight, green hair.
GREEN HAIR! Did I just say that? The class breaks into laughter and poor M., who actually had green hair from the combination of hair color and pool water, became the center of attention. I had been seeing M. with green hair for about a month and no longer noticed it. I thought.
So I'm here to tell you that subliminal advertising works. We notice far more than our brain consciously registers and I for one, seem to spew those things out my mouth!
1 comment:
Haha! The people in my Design class probably think I'm crazy because I'm always laughing at blogs I read. Haha oh well. I loved it! I loved the part about the "non-existent space"
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