Day: November 29, 2005

I’ve never been good at being the squeaky wheel. I’d rather do my best to get along and pitch in to help. When I need to stick up for myself, I make a reasoned case in my behalf. I don’t like losing or being overridden, but I try to accept things gracefully.
Apparently not everyone thinks that way. I have a co-worker who is literally making a federal case over being asked to work three times on the weekend in the month of November. It’s a complicated story, so I’ll boil it down to saying that the schedule is SUPPOSED to be set up so that each person only works one weekend a month. This was complicated in November for this person by the combination of our annual Big Library Event (on Saturday) that everyone had to work and the Thanksgiving weekend, which this person worked to clear her schedule for the December holidays. She almost made arrangements to switch for Thanksgiving with a non-squeaky wheel type who was glad to switch, but then changed her mind at the last minute. I’m not sure what to make of this. If you squeak enough to get out of the work that SEEMED to be the problem, why then would you go back and work it anyway? I can’t figure it out. I think sometimes people complain just to complain. Unfortunately in this case there is an official system for complaining, and she’s working it to the best of her ability.

*Le Sigh*

This lady is talking to me on the phone right now. She is relating a long story about “unusual things going on”. It’s quite fascinating. She gets “aggravated by government things” has been arrested several times in several states, has to keep moving, and has a medical condition in her legs that is bothered by the military guys and police who have arrested her and entered her information into the “system” that is tracking her from Maryland. Apparently she wants me to make a record of her call and the two vehicles with military stickers which are parked outside her hotel room. I told her that if she has a problem, she should probably call the police, but she didn’t want to do that because they’d enter her information into the system and it would do spiritual things to her. She is convinced that the library keeps records of all sorts of things to do with the military. So I’m listening and making sympathetic noises.

I just got her off the phone. I think she really just wanted someone to listen to her story. I feel bad that this lady is out there with this tremendous feeling of paranoia. I hope she finds some help.